Forever, I Am
by Parkway Dr
Summary: AU Set after Priority: Tuchanka in Mass Effect 3. Commander Shepard is facing impossible odds, even with the greatest forces in the galaxy joining him by the day. It's an uphill battle without the woman he met on the suicide mission, until he finds her, and a new wave of troubles come their way. Rated M for language, violence, blood, and sexual themes.
1. The Calm Before The Storm

**Hey there! I haven't really cranked a story out in a good while... actually, some of them still aren't finished (oops), but I feel really good about this one.**

**This is the Shepard you can expect:**

**Default male appearance and name (John)**

**Colonist and War Hero for psych profile**

**Paragon (with a few renegade spots as appropriate)**

**Saved Kaiden on Virmire**

**Did NOT kill Wrex on Virmire**

**Kirrahe survived on Virmire**

**Saved the rachni queen**

**Saved the council **

**Did not romance anyone in ME1**

**Romanced Miranda in ME2**

**All 12 members survived the suicide mission (all loyal)**

**Geth were rewritten**

**Destroyed the collector base**

**Saved Maelon's data**

**Cured the genophage **

**That's really all I can think of really. There WILL be changes to the plot, but only details leading up to the end. **

**For example: In the event you don't meet Thane in ME3 at the hospital or he dies in ME2, Kirrahe saves the councilor's life by stepping in front of Kai Leng's attack. I think that death is bullshit (watch the video if you haven't and you'll see what I mean), so I'm going to change that! **

**No, I'm not writing Thane off... you'll see. All of the DLC has been completed and will in some way be incorporated, some more than others. Don't worry, stick with me on this and we'll have fun. HAVE FUN, DAMN IT.**

Chapter 1 – The Calm Before The Storm

"_**Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong."**_

Shepard sprawled awake in his cabin, vivid images of Tuchanka still ran through his head. It had been a few days, but he felt like he had just watched Mordin go up the lift to his death. Perhaps symbolic, in a way; he had since sought redemption for the genophage. He single-handedly saved the entire krogan race after he had been responsible for slowly driving them to extinction.

But why did it have to be him?

Or anyone, for that matter? The humming from the ship somehow got louder as his sweat began to cool off, chilling his skin. He missed him. He missed Ashley.

Miranda, though. He missed her the most.

"Commander, are you awake?" Traynor came in on the intercom.

He got out of bed, using a towel from the ground to wipe the sweat off of his chest and back before pressing the button to the intercom at his desk to respond.

"What is it, specialist?"

"Admiral Hackett is available on vid comm now if you wish to speak with him."

Of course. He was so busy when he got back from Tuchanka he figured he would just wait until he got a hold of him. He didn't think it would take so long, though.

"All right, thank you."

"Yes, sir," she replied before signing off.

**X X X**

"Curing the genophage was a risky move, Commander. Are you sure you made the right call?"

Shepard nodded. "Yes, sir. Wrex said the other clans had plans to revolt once the reapers were stopped, but he won't allow them to. They want to change, I say we let them."

"I'll trust your judgement on this. I guess we can count the salarians out."

"The cost of their help was too high, sir."

Hackett nodded. "Agreed. I got a message from Major Kirahee saying that he has several STG troops that are committed to the fight, either way. Guess it's a good thing you make friends where it counts. What's your next move?"

"At the moment, I'm still trying to figure that out."

"Good, because I need you to do something for me. I'm still receiving intel, so be on standby for when I finally get everything situated. If what I'm receiving is in any way valid, we may have a serious issue on our hands. Hackett out."

That was strange, it wasn't like Admiral Hackett to just tease you with information on a mission of all things. Either way, there was nothing he could do right now, and his stomach growling told him now was a good time to hit the mess hall and unwind a little bit.

**X X X**

"You sure you want to play this game?"

Shepard's eyebrow quirked as he sat at the table across from Liara. James and Garrus were staring each other down. Competitively? Maybe.

"What's going on with them?" the commander asked the broker.

"What's the matter, Vakarian? You chicken?" James taunted.

"I don't even know what that is- though I've heard everything in the galaxy tastes like it," the turian calmly replied.

"Just James being James," Liara replied, putting her head on her hand.

"But if you're suggesting I'm scared... game on, Vega."

"And Garrus being Garrus," Shepard finished, getting a smile and a nod from his friend across the table.

"How are you feeling? You look like you had a rough night again," she asked with concern toned in her voice.

"I've been having a lot of those lately. I'm alright, though. You?"

"Fine, though the Normandy is a lot quieter without Victus and Wrex... and Mordin."

"Yeah," he replied, locking his fingers from both hands together into a ball.

"Age before wisdom," James said to Garrus, baiting him to go first.

"Okay, back in my C-Sec days, I busted a batarian spy ring that was trying to assassinate a councilor."

James scoffed. "Please, I fought off a dozen angry batarians on Omega single-handedly. Used one of 'em as a landing pad off a three-story jump."

"I'm sorry, Shepard. Mordin was a good man, he surprised even me with how much he knew... and how much of it I didn't know myself," she smirked. "Imagine that: a hyperactive salarian scientist knowing more than the shadow broker."

"Yeah," the commander smirked. "STG is like that. I know he did the right thing, though. He was so at ease with himself when he went up, like he almost always is."

Garrus chuckled at James' cute little story. "Just warming up, seeing what you had. Now: I tracked down this guy, Saren. Stopped him from raising a geth army and unleashing the Reapers three years ago."

"Doesn't count, you did that with Shepard."

"He's right, Garrus," Shepard cut in. "It _was_ a team effort. Liara was there, too."

Liara, now interested in the conversation turned her attention towards it. "Don't break his pride, Shepard, Garrus helped... a little bit."

James laughed. "Ha ha! See?"

Garrus chuckled with a hint of embarrassment. "You're right. I was with Shepard... from the very beginning," he turned to his commander with a nod. They really were brothers from other mothers. And planets. And species, but that wasn't important.

"That just means you're old!" James taunted, getting a look from Shepard. "I mean, you look good, Loco, but this cat's got some mileage on him. Aye, cabron!"

As they continued to boost their egos further, Shepard and Liara continued their previous conversation. Liara didn't have to be the shadow broker to know what was eating him. On top of all the death, he needed someone. No doubt that someone was Miranda, but with everything going on, even she had trouble tracking her down for more than a few hours. She made it a secret mission of hers; Shepard was a good friend to her, so she wanted to make sure the person who made him happy was always within her sight. Lucky for her, that sight stretched very far.

"He didn't hesitate," Shepard said. "When he went up to cure the genophage."

"He probably thought if someone else did it-"

"Someone else might have gotten it wrong," he smirked. "Yeah. It had to be him."

"He saved the krogan. That has to count for something."

He nodded. "Yeah. Wrex is going to make sure things are better now. That's why I didn't sabotage the cure. We'll just end up right back to where we started."

"Still think you can win this, huh?" Garrus said, unamused by James' somewhat suspicious accomplishments. He had a feeling James was going to tell him something outright ridiculous, and then he would have him. He just had to wait.

"I can do this all day, scars," James smirked.

"Funny you mention those. You ever hear the name Archangel?"

"I might've."

"You know you have. I'm Archangel."

James just rolled his eyes. His cousin showed him a picture of a guy with his hands raised up, unimpressed, with the phrase "Watch out, we got a badass over here." It seemed appropriate right now. "Maybe I heard something about that, too."

"Hm," Garrus hummed. "Then maybe you also heard that for a couple of months there, the crime on Omega mysteriously dropped while Archangel did a little "housecleaning.""

"So you ran a cleaning service on Omega."

Liara heard that one and laughed, a little too loudly as the two badasses-in-dispute looked at her.

"Oh, goddess. I'm so sorry, I didn't- ha ha, excuse me. James just caught me off guard."

They simply rolled their eyes and went back at it.

"Back on Fehl Prime, I uncovered a pair of Harvesters. Had to kill them. By myself."

Garrus crossed his arms for this one. Shepard knew this stance. It was his "Time for me to brace myself for bullshit" stance he took whenever he felt something fishy was going to happen. "Two worm-necks, that's _almost_ impressive."

"Oh, that's not even the best part. They left behind an egg. It hatched, and I trained it to let me fly it."

Garrus' voice choked at that ending part as he laughed at James' obviously fabricated story. "The Alliance teach you to make up crap like that, or did you figure it out all by yourself?"

"It's a gift," James replied.

During the conversation, Shepard finally managed to pry himself from the chair he was sitting in to get some food. Just spaghetti and meatballs and some bread. He wasn't really feeling it, but he knew he had to eat, so he started.

"Shepard," Liara said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Your food's getting cold."

He smirked. "Sorry, mom," he said as he twirled his fork into the noodles and sauce. It was still warm, somewhat.

"Miranda is safe right now," she said, cutting to the chase was something she's slowly gotten better at. "I know it's not ethical, but-"

"You spying on her?"

"Not because I want to. Because I know how much she means to you. She's hard to keep track of, but whenever I find something on her, it's good news for whatever it's worth."

"What's the last thing you heard?" he asked, slurping the noodles into his mouth before making eye contact with her.

"You... have... sauce. On your lips."

"Yeah."

"Oh, right," Liara replied awkwardly. "The last thing my datafeed could find on Miranda was her following up on a lead involving her father and her sister. She's not taking the direct routes to the source, however."

"I figured. She's got her guard up."

"I just want you to know," Liara placed a comforting hand on his. "I know she means a lot to you, and I'm going to try and help in every possible way I can to make sure she's safe while she's away."

He smiled. Liara always did look out for him. He figured it was just her paying him back for all the times he helped her. Then he just figured, chances are, it was just something friends did.

**X X X**

Huerta was busy as expected, it was one of the premiere hospitals on the Citadel. As a promise to a friend, Thane's hospital door whirred open as he glanced to see who was visiting him.

"Zaeed. Good to see you," he calmly said.

"Thane Krios, you look like right ass," he smirked. "But I've seen worse."

"Indeed, I assure you, it feels far worse than it looks."

"Oh yeah, I remember the talks on the Normandy. No oxygen in the blood for you, and I lose my goddamn eye and my entire mercenary organization. Guess we got what we deserved, eh?"

"Heh. Perhaps, but I do not think I would be able to survive if I had no oxygen in my blood. It is simply at a drastically lower rate than-"

"You want me to shoot you right now, mate? Save you the trouble of waiting?" he crossed his arms.

"Would you really shoot a dying drell?" he innocently smiled.

"Hah, yeah, sure, you may be dying, but we would still burn this place to the ground if we ever got serious."

"If only I had met you when I wasn't sick. It would have been enjoyable to fight a seasoned fighter such as yourself."

Zaeed smirked. "Maybe if I had my other eye, yeah. We can all dream, though."

Zaeed and Thane seemed to be from opposite sides of the spectrum, but they weren't at the same time. They remained in contact after the team disbanded. Their somewhat similar destructive pasts made them trust each other fast and work well together. Shepard himself was impressed at how well just the two of them could handle an entire squad of collectors without taking a hit. It was, in some ways, more fluid than him and Garrus.

"Hey. Krios," he said weakly. "You remember that girl I was telling you about after the collector base? The one Liara gave me?"

"Yes, of course. Did you ever find her?" he smiled, hopeful.

"Yeah. She's here, actually. She works in the embassies. I'm just trying to figure out how to-"

Suddenly, an alarm blared throughout the hospital.

"The hell?" the mercenary glanced around.

Then, shots and screaming.

"Something is wrong," Thane said, moving himself from the bed to get on his feet. He was dizzy, it took him a moment to keep from falling over.

"Goddamn right," Zaeed replied, reaching for the knife next to his boot as he walked towards the door.

The door whirred open.

Cerberus.

"Son of a bitch."

**End Chapter 1**

**Like most of you, I don't like waiting for a new chapter when a story I enjoy drops (something else I'm guilty of, oops). So I've already got the next two chapters ready for ya. Let's see what a couple of badasses like Zaeed and Thane can get into while Shepard is away, and maybe we'll see a bit more of this person Zaeed was talking about. Send the reviews over if you like what you're reading so far. They aren't required, but they definitely help motivate me to crank out the chapters faster! See ya.**

**PS – just for fun, who do you think would win? Thane in his prime with no disease, or Zaeed in his prime with both eyes? I actually have a hard time deciding between the two, they're both badass and dangerous in their own ways. Let me know what you think in the reviews.**


	2. No Place Safe

**Chapter 2 – No Place Safe**

"Son of a bitch."

"You there! Hands up!" the Cerberus assault trooper said to Zaeed, his Maddock rifle pointed straight at him.

Zaeed heard feet touching the ground behind him. He smirked as he raised his hands up.

"Drop the knife! Do it!"

"Sure thing, mate."

The knife fell from his hands, and Thane caught it, spinning around the mercenary like water, at the trooper in less than a second, ramming the blade like a punch into the throat of the soldier.

Zaeed rushed the dying soldier, grabbing his rifle as he gunned down the soldier to his right; two in the chest, one in the head instantly put him down. The one on his left was too close, so he raised his rifle to ram the butt into Zaeed's head. He raised his rifle to guard the attack, using his right foot to kick in the soldier's left knee. The trooper howled in pain as he fell to the floor; Zaeed had a kick that, he swore, ignored armor better than any bullet did.

More soldiers rushed in, rifles raised to them. Zaeed picked up the soldier in agonizing pain as he reached into his belt.

"Sorry, mate. You picked the wrong side."

"Wait, what are you doing?"

Zaeed strapped three inferno grenades to the soldier, pulling the pins as he pushed him onto a hospital bed, and kicked the bed as it rolled right into the soldiers.

"Watch out! Live grenades!"

Too late, just what Massani wanted as the entire squad burst into flames, gore and body parts flew all around. Anyone who survived the blast wouldn't survive the next couple of seconds as they were burned alive.

"That's how it's done, Krios. Plain and simple," he bragged. It was good to be in the heart of the fight again, even if this wasn't his first choice right now. Then again, he's fought in a lot more sophisticated places before.

Thane turned to him. "Not bad, Zaeed. I still you still haven't lost your edge."

Zaeed turned, shocked at the body count Thane accumulated while he wasn't looking. So quietly, and...

"Almost as many as me," the drell playfully teased as he released the head of a phantom who's neck he had just broken, dropping it dead to the floor.

More than him.

"Goddamn drells."

**X X X**

"The hospital is compromised. We need to get in touch with the Normandy if Cerberus is here," Thane suggested as he and Zaeed hid behind cover and a blizzard of bullets from Cerberus soldiers.

"Yeah, let's just use the coms. Great idea, I'm sure they never bugged them or cut them off at the very beginning."

"We can figure out something if we get to C-Sec. Find Bailey, we can-"

"Hands up!"

"Biotic, open fire!"

The gunfire didn't stop, but it did stop firing at them. They glanced up quickly as four Cerberus soldiers went from standing, to levitating, then flown out of the windows of the hospital to their deaths. A familiar face stepped out into the lobby, blue armor, short hair, and a purple coat over his body from his L2 implant currently active.

"Major Alenko!" Thane called as they got out of cover.

"Thane?" Kaiden asked as he saw them walk towards him. "You guys okay?"

"We're fi... we're fine," Thane said, wheezing through his sentence as his hand grabbed the wall for support. The adrenaline was wearing off, and his body reminded him of his illness.

"Hey, take it easy," the Spectre said, trying to help for whatever good it did. Zaeed kept a look out.

"We can't exactly stay here," Zaeed said. "Cerberus will send more teams soon. We need to split while we can and figure out a plan of getting off this rock."

"Leaving? No way!" he snapped. "Cerberus is shooting anything that isn't human. I gotta find the council. Have you tried getting a hold of Shepard?"

"Coms are jammed," the mercenary replied. "We'll need to find a secure line. We need to get to C-Sec for that, but I guarantee it's bleeding Cerberus right now."

"We've faced worse odds before, Zaeed," Thane said. His lungs felt like ice, like breathing on a cold, dry winter day. Could he fight? Absolutely. Could he fight well? Yes, but not for a long period of time. Not anymore.

"You weren't hunched over about to keel over back when we were smashing collectors if I recall," he reached over to him. "Come on, I'll give you a lift."

"No. No, I'm fine now," Thane waved off as he stood. "The fight from earlier took more from me than I imagined. We should avoid hand-to-hand combat if at all possible if I am to be effective."

"What's the plan, Spectre?" Zaeed asked Kaiden.

"We can't stay here," he started. "C-Sec is crawling with Cerberus, I just came from there. Our best bet is to find a private terminal to make a distress call to the Alliance. Last I heard, the only place that's not hit nearly as bad is the commons. I need to-"

"Wait," Zaeed interrupted. "What about the embassies?"

"Forget it, it's almost as bad as C-Sec."

"No. Krios, is she there? Are you SURE she's there?" Zaeed's voice was surprisingly taking a turn from normally aggressive and arrogant, to fearful and worrisome.

"Yes. Last I heard. She's probably evacuated at this point, Zaeed. We need to stick together."

"Or she's dead or in trouble. I'm not going to chase the end of a rainbow while she runs around being shot at by a bunch of goddamn terrorists."

"Zaeed, wait!" Kaiden called, but the former Blue Suns leader was gone, hopping over a broken window and following the pane outside. "What's he talking about, Thane?"

"You were not with us when we joined with Shepard, but Zaeed has a rather sentimental attachment to an old assault rifle he used to carry into combat throughout his career. He named it Jessie. After our mission, him and I discussed family, our past and all the mistakes with it. We shared much in common, I with my son and him with his... well, he confided in me... and you can figure it out."

"I see. Listen, we need to find the council and get them to safety. I could use your help."

"No. I'm afraid with your mission I'll only slow you down. I'll attempt to reach Shepard while you search for the council."

Kaiden didn't like the idea of leaving a dying drell on his own to fend for himself. But he knew Thane was anything but a pushover. And as a Spectre, he had his duty to protect the council at all costs.

"All right," he nodded, reluctantly. "Stay in radio contact. Get Shepard over here!" Kaiden said as he took off down the main door towards the elevators.

And here was Thane, thinking retirement would've treated him just a little bit better.

**X X X**

Shepard made his way to Joker as the helmsman attempted to make the normally simple contact with the Citadel to dock.

"Alliance control, this is SSV Normandy, are we clear to descend?"

Nothing. Joker glanced up at his commander, shrugging his shoulders at why no one was answer.

"One more time for good luck," he said. "Alliance control, this is SSV Normandy, we're headed to bay 1-4, Zakera Ward. Are we clear to descend?

Unfortunately for him, the chair was empty, Cerberus soldiers took no notice over the incoming signal as they checked the room for stowaways.

Now Joker was getting a little worried. "What the hell is going on down there? Even if there were a station malfunction, they'd have backups online," he glanced to Shepard who simply nodded in agreement. "I got a bad feeling here," he returned his face to the instrument panel. "Checking emergency channels."

A few seconds later, a response. Or so Joker could tell, Shepard couldn't hear since it wasn't over the intercom.

"Hey! Yeah, this is Joker. Uh-huh. Yeah, no kidding," he looked over to the commander again. "Commander, there's a communication from-"

"...-eed. Do you read? SHEPARD. GET ON THE GODDAMN LINE."

"Zaeed, what's happening?" Shepard asked.

"Cerberus is here, and they're cleaning house. C-Sec is fucked, I'm in the embassies right now."

"Have you seen anyone else?"

"Yeah, I was with Krios and your other Alliance friend a few hours ago. They're okay, but your friend was looking for the Council. No telling if Krios stuck with him."

"We'll be there soon, Zaeed. Stay there, we may-"

"No chance! Cerberus is shooting anything that moves, humans included. I'm looking for someone, I'll find you if I can."

The com disconnected. Gunfire and explosions that were previously over the channel now lay silent. At least he knew they were okay, for whatever good it did.

"Glad to see Zaeed is just as charming as ever," Joker said. "Hang on, got another one coming in from Thane."

"Put it through," John said.

"Shepard, the Citadel is under attack. Cerberus troops are everywhere and they're in control of the docks."

"Are you safe?" he asked.

"No. I had to fight their commandos through the hospital with Zaeed and Kaiden. I'm in a Presidium storefront," he replied.

"Did Kaiden make it out?"

"We got separated. He said he had to protect the Council. I'm going to C-Sec headquarters."

"Why C-Sec headquarters? Zaeed just told us it was overrun."

"I know, but C-Sec's response depends on it. As long as Cerberus is holding the headquarters, they have the station."

Shepard turned and started heading to suit up. "All right, Joker- get us away from the docks and close to C-Sec HQ. We'll deploy in the shuttle."

"Aye aye, Commander."

**X X X**

"Why can't we ever go somewhere nice for a change?" Garrus remarked as he sat in the shuttle across from Shepard.

"This is miniscule. In my cycle, this was almost considered a vacation against the Reapers," Javik said back. "And the Citadel was already under Reaper control."

Garrus sighed with a shake in his head. "Never a dull moment with you, Javik."

"Fifty-thousand years left me time to catch up."

James looked outside as they got closer. He was used to the fighting, but he still got a turn in his stomach when it came to seemingly safe places like the Citadel being bloodbaths for innocents. "Fucking Cerberus," he said.

"How's it look, Cortez?" Shepard asked.

"This whole area is one big hot potato, but this spot coming up is the best I can do. LZ is hot."

"All right, people, we know how Cerberus works. No warning, put 'em down, we've gotta take back C-Sec HQ and find the Council."

"Hey, Loco. You think it's true that Udina might be some kind of mole for Cerberus?"

"Let's not count anything out until we ask him ourselves," he replied.

As the shuttle descended, C-Sec was slowly losing ground to Cerberus. Weapon fire instantly began flailing towards the shuttle as the door opened. Shepard, Garrus, and Javik took cover to the left by a wall. Liara, EDI, and James knelt down behind crates to the right.

"They're splitting their attention between us and C-Sec. We've got the edge here," he said over gunfire. "James, let's get some grenades over to clear the groups out. Pick your targets and we'll close in, pincer movement. Watch out for friendlies."

James nodded, pulling a grenade from his belt, the commander doing the same. They pulled the pins, tossing them over on their respective sides.

Explosions.

"Go!"

James jumped up first, nailing a shot from his Maddock into the skull of a Cerberus soldier. Liara tossed a singularity towards two soldiers adjacent to him, no doubt saving him for being so reckless in the first minute of the fight. James turned and shot them while they were mid-air.

"You're welcome!" Liara whined.

"Psh, I was saving them for later!" he said as he took down another soldier before getting behind cover.

"I get the feeling James may be putting up a front to indicate he really did not notice the two Cerberus soldiers you just caught for him, Liara."

"Boys will be boys," Liara smirked, popping out of cover to take down another soldier.

Javik moved from cover behind a tall box to the other side. A Cerberus soldier was waiting for him, blade out as he swung at him.

The prothean easily stepped back, grabbing the soldier's right arm with his left and yanking it back before pressing his weight onto the hand, pushing the blade through the abdomen of the soldier as he screamed in pain. Javik dropped him and put four shots into the back of his head with the Avenger he carried with him.

"I don't even think he blinked at that," Garrus said to Shepard as they followed closely behind.

"Javik is a little scary sometimes," Shepard replied.

"Glad he's on our side," the turian said as he popped out of cover, nailing a centurion in the face with his mantis sniper rifle. Then, another body dropped at the same time as the soldier he hit.

"Oh, yeah! Two for one!" he cheered.

Shepard rushed up to the next area right by Javik, taking down a Cerberus soldier along the way with a few rounds from his Avenger. A few more moments of ducking and shooting, the last of the soldiers on his side went down. He looked over the other side. Liara flew a soldier over the ledge, finishing the job as they met up at the door when the commander spotted a familiar figure hunched over by the door.

"Shepard, I saw those Cerberus troops on you. I thought you were done for."

"Bailey? What are you doing here?" he asked, noting the fresh blood seeping from his wound near his midsection.

"Getting my ass shot off while trying to retake headquarters. Cerberus took it in the first push," he grunted, holding his wound together with his hands to try and keep the blood down. "We gotta kick them out of there. Everyone in C-Sec is flying blind without the network."

"How bad is the situation?" Garrus asked his former superior. "Do you know if the Councilors are alive?"

Shepard and James helped Bailey up, slowly, but steadily. "They split up," he replied. "I'll know more if I can access a terminal inside."

"Can you get us in?" Shepard asked, hoping Cerberus didn't lock C-Sec out of their own station.

Bailey limped over to the door with a hand over his wound as he began punching in numbers. "I'll get the door, if no one interrupts me with a bullet this time," his sarcasm never left him, even with a hole in his side and everything crashing all around him.

The door opened, Shepard and everyone going in first as James helped Bailey inside.

"All clear," Javik said.

They kept their eyes peeled as Bailey broke off from James, limping to the desk and sitting down. He would worry about the wound later. He had to save his home now.

"Here we go," he said, computer coming to life. "C-Sec network access, courtesy of Cerberus."

"How's that going to help?" Shepard asked, keeping an eye on the door down the hallway just in case someone came through.

"Cerberus has control of the main channels, but I can set up a new one. Without it, our people have no plan and no chance."

A few seconds later, a beeping came from the monitor. "Hello..." Bailey said to himself.

"What have you got?" the commander asked as he walked over to him.

"A warning from Councilor Valern. He's supposed to be here, meeting with the executor," he said as he read the note. "_This move may provoke retaliation... _Well, that's an understatement. If he's inside, he's in trouble."

"Sounds like trouble if a councilor's meeting with an executor," Garrus said.

Bailey nodded. "Yeah, it means someone big is about to be prosecuted. I guess that someone had Cerberus friends."

"Fuck, man. I knew it was fucking Udina!" James snapped.

"Does he have that kind of pull?" Liara asked. "It doesn't seem likely that Udina alone could amass this."

"You know who'd have the answer to that? The councilor," Bailey replied.

Shepard shook his head. This was about to get a lot more complicated than it should. "One councilor is better than zero. Where are we headed?"

Garrus stepped over to Shepard. "The councilor could be in the executor's office. It's a fairly defensible position."

"I'm on it," Shepard said as he took off.

"Just a sec," Bailey said, stopping the commander in his tracks.

A few seconds later, their omni-tools lit up. "There. Now we can talk by omni-tool. Go!"

Shepard clicked his com channel. "Thane, did you hear all that?"

"Yes," he said with more effort than usual. "I'm nearing the building, but running is difficult. I'll try to get to-"

The com cut out, not filled with static and hissing, a thud could be heard in the background.

"Thane? Thane!" he called, but no response.

"We cannot wait," Javik said. "We must hope he can continue on; Cerberus might have jammed our communications."

Shepard nodded. Even as sick as he was, Thane was a gifted fighter. No way some Cerberus soldier got the drop on him. "Let's go, people! Double-time!"

**X X X**

Thane assumed a grip to the person behind him, one arm behind the back of the neck and one making an elbow strike to the stomach. But the sedative kicked in too fast for him to deliver enough force, and he fell to the ground.

"Sorry, friend. But this is my fight. My councilor," a certain high-ranking salarian officer said as he kicked a ventilation duct out on the ground, finding ample room for the drell to be placed in without being seen or being uncomfortable.

"Command? Yes, sir, I'm less than half a click away from the councilor. No, no problems so far, but you know how it is: Expect trouble, and failing that, create trouble for someone else."

He paused, focusing on what his superiors told him.

"Understood. I'll do what I need to. Kirahee out."

**End Chapter 2**

**I love Kirahee, and it really PISSED ME OFF when he got such a bitch of a death against Kai Leng. Like I said, I'm gonna change that. Thane's going to be alright, it was just a sedative. Still wondering about Zaeed? Don't worry, we'll touch up on him next chapter. Hope you're enjoying this so far!**


	3. A Long Time Coming (Zaeed vs Kai Leng)

**I'm trying something out here, so bear (bare?) with me if it seems iffy. Hope you guys have been enjoying the story so far, we've still got a ways to go. AND DON'T WORRY, Miranda is going to work her way into this story SOON. Just hang on, have some other fun stuff while you're waiting.**

Chapter 3 – A Long Time Coming (Zaeed vs. Kai Leng)

The embassies were a nightmare, even for a man who's seen so much death and destruction as Zaeed. He stepped over a dead elcor with his rifle raised, throwing his back to the wall as he heard chatter around the corner.

"This sector's clear," said the Cerberus commando.

"We've still got some resistance on the east side, but the floor is clean otherwise."

"Good, let's get going."

The two soldiers began walking away from Zaeed, down the hall. Their attention was off of him completely now, he turned the corner with his rifle raised, ready to rack up the numbers on his kill count.

_**Splat!**_

The head of the soldier on the right literally exploded before his eyes. The soldier on the left turned with his rifle raising before a grenade stuck to his chest.

"Oh shit! Oh shit, oh shit, oh shi-"

Then he was gone, blown into over a dozen tiny pieces. Zaeed didn't do that, who took out the guards? He leaned against the wall, slowly creeping towards where the bullet and grenade came from.

"Don't shoot, I'm friendly, yeah?" he said.

No response. He finally turned corner, another massacre field, with the exception of a young human woman slouched over on the wall, a bloodied left sleeve ruining her uniform; she was C-Sec. She must have killed the soldiers, Zaeed thought. The rifle and grenade belt were right next to her. Her dark brown hair was pulled back, but in an awful mess from the fighting, no doubt had its own coat of blood in there somewhere. Her blue eyes were hard to make out from the redness and exhaustion clearly visible in them.

It was her.

"Hey! Are you okay?" he asked as he rushed to her side to examine her.

She grabbed the rifle and pointed it at him, causing him to do the one thing Zaeed never does: put his weapon down.

"It's okay," he said. "I'm not with them, look, I put my weapon down."

"I don't... I don't believe you. That's how they got in in the first place! I can't trust anyone, it's how they got my mom," she winced, the bullet wound she had in her shoulder was getting infected, and there wasn't any medi-gel in sight.

"What?" he was taken aback. "Mariah... are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure! They gunned her down right in front of me! How do you even know my mother's name anyway? Who the hell are you?"

Did Zaeed just choke? He never choked. "I'm a friend," he said, then cursed himself mentally. "I've got friends here picking up survivors. Come with me."

"What? Like hell I am! I don't even know you, get away from me!" she spat back, backing away from him as she held the rifle close to her.

"Jessie, listen, damn it! We don't have time for th-"

"That's... that's my name! How do you know my name? Who the hell are you? Cerberus mercenary?" she panicked.

Without either noticing, a dark and silent figured descended behind them, creeping up behind Zaeed with a short blade unsheathing.

"No. He is not one of us."

Zaeed knew this voice.

"Son of a bitch."

He might have gotten old, but his hearing was still just as good as ever, hearing the whirring of a blade coming down. He ducked, just in time to avoid getting his head cut off, driving an elbow backwards into the armored gut of the elite Cerberus operative. To his surprise, it knocked him back with just enough room for him to grab his rifle. He aimed up, not hesitating to open fire, but he was gone as the bullets punctured the wall.

"Kai Leng. Well, isn't this a treat," he said. "How long's it been? I see you've got a new set of eyes."

"No thanks to you. I see you still have only one," he taunted, still unseen by the mercenary as he looked around for him. "It's a shame you decided to fight back. Cerberus paid you well and held you in high regard for stopping the collectors."

"Cause it was goddamn suicide! They weren't too pleased that the funds stood, and you're a madman if you think they're anything less than a bunch of terrorists."

Kai appeared in front of him, blade thrusting forward. Just in time, Zaeed caught the hilt as the blade was only an inch from his stomach.

"You're getting weak, old man," he spat with such hatred. "Once I finish with you, I'm going to kill the salarian councilor. Then..." he glanced to the girl behind Zaeed, fearfully planted against the wall; too terrified to move. "Then, I'm going to have my way with her over there."

His blood boiled, the thought of him violating her... no way.

"Like hell you are," he said with anger. He focused all of his strength, tossing the sword to their right, out of his hands.

Before he could react, Kai took a strong right hook from Zaeed, knocking him off balance. He countered with a front kick, only caught by the mercenary as he twirled his foot, sending the operative to the ground on his stomach with a hard thud.

He turned to Jessie. "Can you move? You need to leave, now!"

"I- I can't. My shoulder... I can't move."

"Damn it," he grunted. "You've gotta leave, right n- oof!"

Kai Leng was back up, bullrushing Zaeed as he slammed him into a wall right next to Jessie. It took the wind out of him, but not enough to stop him. He balled a fist up, slamming it into Kai's back as he fell to the ground. Zaeed grabbed a sharp piece of scrap metal, stabbing it towards the operative's chest, but he caught it between his hands, struggling to keep it from piercing him.

"Only one way to make sure you're dead this time: right through that black heart of yours!" he growled.

"Hahaha! Zaeed Massani, the man with all the answers to life's great mysteries," he taunted, using his momentum to pick the mercenary up with his feet and swing him over him. The metal landed next to him.

"Massani?" Jessie said to herself. "But that's... my last name."

Zaeed was right next to Kai's sword. He picked it up while noticing he picked up the scrap metal. They instantly swung them at each other like a couple of rocks in an attempt to decapitate the other. The sword and metal hit each other mid-air, deflecting off one another in a piercing clank sound.

They stood, eyeing each other down. It had been years since they'd done this, back when he led the Blue Suns and they encountered Cerberus. Zaeed was so sure he killed him then, but all he did was destroy his eyesight and piss him off.

"Not bad, old man," Kai said. "You've managed to last this long without breaking a hip."

"I don't need a bunch of Reaper tech in my bloodstream to kick your ass, Kai. I'm doing it all over again," he beckoned, motioning his hand for him to come. "Let's finish this."

With a crazed smile, Kai bolted towards the mercenary, picking up his sword along the way as he wildly swung it into a stabbing position.

Zaeed, finally in reach of the assassin, grabbed his head, slamming it into his. Before Kai could get over the shock of being struck, his throat clenched. He had difficulty breathing.

Then, it was then that he realized what had happened.

"Y-You fool, you'll kill us all!" Kai grunted, struggling to get words out as Zaeed's grenade belt held his neck tight.

"Not this time," he smirked, pulling the pins off of all six grenades at the same time. "Fry, you son of a bitch."

With a hard kick, Zaeed sent Kai Leng to the pane of an open window. He lost his balance, leaning over almost, then pelted with a blizzard of bullets from the mercenary's rifle with more than enough force that sent him over the edge. The thundering explosion seconds after assured him that this time, he would stay dead.

Then his usual killer instinct fell quickly as he glanced at the young woman he rescued, now in a fearful, yet somewhat grateful look at him.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

He took a step towards her, then winced in pain. It came from his abdomen. He glanced down, only to find his yellow cloth turning orange from the combination of blood seeping from a deep stab wound.

"Damn. I was sloppy. I didn't even... notice."

He fell on a knee, gasping for air, and with adrenaline, Jessie found herself on her feet rushing to his side to hold him from falling over.

"It's you, isn't it?" she asked as she held him. She was no medical expert. Even if she put pressure on the wound, he was losing so much blood, so quickly.

He sighed, then nodded. "Yeah, sweetheart. It's me."

Tears streamed, then fell from her eyes. "Daddy..."

"I've been a real bastard, I know," he said. "But you were safer thinking I was dead. Both of you were."

"Mom told me you died in a firefight."

"Heh. Not exactly. It's a long... long..."

"Hey!" she shook him. "No! No dying on me, got it?

Zaeed was still.

"Dad? Daddy!" she cried, voice breaking with tears flooding her face. "Don't go. Please don't go!" she held him, thinking if she held him tight enough, he would get better. "SOMEBODY HELP!"

As if on cue, she heard a radio come to life. It was coming from his ear. Of course, a com channel. She picked it up, trying to listen in.

"...-ere? Zaeed, what is it?"

"H-Hello?" she asked. He must have chimed in when she held him. Lucky for her, this stranger may save her father's life. "Who is this?"

"This is Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy. Who am I speaking to?"

She sniffed. "T-This is Sergeant Jessie Massani, Citadel Security Special Response. Zaeed is my father. He's hurt, really bad fighting with someone named Kai Leng. Where are you? He needs a doctor RIGHT NOW!"

**X X X**

"Okay, Jessie, I'm sending a team to pick you up. Send me your location and we'll be there soon," Shepard said. A few moments later, her location was sent to his omni-tool as it lit up.

"Liara, take James and EDI to the embassies near Commander Bailey's office."

"What's up, Loco?" the marine asked.

"An old friend of ours is in trouble. Get going!"

"On it," Liara replied as they took to a different direction.

"Things are getting pretty bad if Zaeed is down," Garrus said as he, the commander and Javik moved down a hallway.

"His daughter mentioned something about a guy named Kai Leng. If he's with Cerberus, he's probably the one targeting the salarian councilor. Let's move!"

**X X X**

"Reset complete. Access enabled."

Shepard hopped over the broken window after stopping a Cerberus engineer from hacking the terminals further. His body laid cold next to the fuse box, but everything was starting to work again at least.

"The elevator should be open now," Garrus said as it started to unlock.

The commander nodded as they stepped inside, Bailey coming through on the com.

"Any survivors in there?" he asked as the commander pushed the button to take them to the next level.

"None yet," he replied, trying to be optimistic.

"Damn it. Keep looking."

The elevator was awfully slow, or at least it felt like it. He was worried about Thane dropping off like that, and also worried about Zaeed. But even still, he had no idea where Kaiden was, and that might have made him the most scared.

It finally stopped, and they stepped out into the hallway, sprinklers still active.

"Ridgefield? Lamont? You still alive?" Garrus called.

"Perhaps it is wise to not alert the enemy to our presence," Javik said.

"If gunfire doesn't put them on notice, I sure won't," he replied. Javik just shook his head.

Examining the area, Shepard picked up a few datapads he would look at once they finished. Right now, all that mattered was finding the executor's office and the councilor.

The door opened to two Cerberus commandos speaking to each other.

"You sure we had to do that? Without him, we-"

_**Bang!**_

The head of the speaking soldier exploded, no doubt a shot from Archangel. Four shots to the chest put the other soldier down before he could alert anyone else, and they moved on.

"We gotta be close now," Shepard said out loud as they finally entered an area not covered with sprinklers.

Garrus nodded. "Yeah, there's a stairwell further on. Executor's office is right above it. Let's hope we're not too late."

They rushed across the hallway, heading up the staircase as a Cerberus soldier appeared out of nowhere. Javik, still running, grabbed the head of the soldier and threw him down the stairs as a loud crunch could be heard on impact, instantly killing the commando.

"See? He did it again! It's like breathing to this guy," Garrus said to the commander in a small pant as they rushed up the stairs.

"Watch and learn, turian. I can teach you many things," the prothean smirked.

They reached the door, and Shepard pressed her back against it. This was it, the executor's office. It opened as Garrus punched in the center button. Javik and Shepard stepped in first with Garrus covering the rear. When it was clear, he joined them.

"Bailey," John said. "Looks like they got the executor and two salarian bodyguards."

"Damn," he replied. "All right, keep searching. If you don't see the councilor's body, don't count him out yet."

**X X X**

"Jessie Massani?" James called as he peaked around the corner. "I'm Lt. James Vega, Alliance Navy. You okay in there?"

He could hear her crying. He looked, saw her, cradling the body of a man in her arms. He signaled for Liara and EDI to move in.

"Jessie, my name is Dr. T'so-"

Jessie was definitely her father in spirit, holding a rifle with one hand to them. Her eyes were read from exhaustion and crying, her shoulder was dry and crusted from being shot, and her uniform was mixed in with the blood of who knows how many people, including her father's.

"Jessie, hey, take it easy," James said. "We're with Commander Shepard. He sent us here to help your old man. Okay? Will you let us help him?"

She put the rifle down as they approached her. James helped her up away from him as Liara and EDI examined him.

"I've got a pulse," Liara said. "It's weak, but it's still there."

"My sensors indicate his blood type is AB+ after taking a sample. It is not common, but it is not rare, either. He has a low, but measurable chance of survival if we can find someone with a similar blood type in the next two to three hours after stabilizing him."

"T-That's my blood type. AB+, you can take it from me, take as much as you need," she said, trying to pull her sleeve up thinking she was going to draw blood now.

"That is acceptable, but the building infection from your gunshot wound in your shoulder could end up killing him during the transfusion. I recommend bringing him back to the Normandy so Dr. Chakwas can tend to his wounds."

"I agree," the asari nodded before turning to the almost hysterical C-Sec officer. "Jessie, we need to take your father with us, or he's going to die. You'll need to do a blood transfusion."

"Okay," she nodded. "I, I can still fight. I just need to- agh!" she winced at her shoulder. She could barely raise it without the sting of the infection stopping her.

"Hang on there, Rambo," James said. "We cleared the way here. Just leave the fighting to me, keep an eye on your old man, okay? He needs you right now."

She agreed, nodding once more. "Okay. Let's go."

**End Chapter 3**

**I love Zaeed, can't you tell? Think Kai Leng survived? I'm starting on the next chapter soon, let me know what you think so far in a review. Like I said, Miranda is going to be coming in soon, so I'm hoping you guys won't have to wait much longer. I can't promise chapters will be up super fast all the time, but just know that when I do have free time, I'm working on this. See you guys next time.**


	4. Hold The Line (Kirrahe vs Kai Leng)

**So here's the fourth chapter. I know, hardly anything Miranda in this story so far. But don't worry, we just gotta get over this section and there will be plenty!**

**For this particular chapter, I'm gonna say again, I think it's super bull that Kirrahe was taken out so easily by Kai Leng in the game. Guess what I'm gonna do? Give him the respect he deserves. Hold the line!**

Chapter 4 – Hold The Line (Kirrahe vs. Kai Leng)

Garrus looked out the window into the conference room below. A chair moved and caught his attention. A second later, the salarian councilor came out from camouflage, looking around.

"Found him, he looks unharmed," the commander said.

"Get him somewhere safe!" Bailey said in a near panic. "We can't lose him!"

Shepard's back was turned for just a moment when a dark-clothed figure appeared on the support beam of the ceiling. He dropped down in front of the councilor, startling him.

The commander turned again and saw what was happening. Immediately, he knew, that had to be Kai Leng.

Without a second thought, he pointed his pistol to the window and fired, glass shattering everywhere as he jumped down, Garrus and Javik following right behind. Kai heard the drop from above and flipped behind the councilor, now seeing who had come to join them. He opened his right hand up as the palm started to glow.

His armor was cracked in several places, the pads that would cover his neck were broken and jagged off at different angles. His neck, what was visible, showed heavy burn marks; red and bruised into disfiguration. The left side of his face was a pinkish shade, showing exposed tissue likely caused from extreme heat. He was injured, no doubt from his fight earlier with Zaeed, but with such little damage done to him, he wondered how much it would matter.

Shepard pointed his Avenger at him, Garrus and Javik taking aim behind him. "Don't even think about it."

Valern gulped. "Shepard, he's going to kill us all."

"That remains to be seen," he replied, keeping his eyes on Kai.

"I'm talking about Udina. He's staging a coup. The other councilors are headed for a trap."

The small team stepped forward slightly. "Three on one, pal," Shepard said. "It's over."

"No. Now it's fun."

He felt himself pull the trigger for his projectile, but it shot up into the ceiling. A cloaking device came down, and his arm was twisted upward by two salarian hands.

"Impossible odds. We share something in common, assassin."

"Kirrahe?" Shepard was puzzled, what was he doing here?

Kai swung his left hand towards the STG major, only to be caught by Kirrahe's right hand. Kai was clearly stronger than him, so he didn't wait to be overpowered. Kirrahe headbutted the Cerberus operative as hard as he could, knocking him off balance. He turned to the left, sweeping his foot as they fell to the floor with him on top assuming a dominant position. What he lacked in strength he would have to make up for in technique, somehow.

He pulled his pistol out, taking aim at his face, but had the weapon thrown off by a punch to the wrist. The assassin grabbed the major by the collar and the wrist, turning as he threw him to the ground, him on top now.

Kai's sword came out then down. Kirrahe moved his head out of the way as the blade crashed into the tile next to him, easily piercing it; if that blade hit him, he was dead and he knew it. He pulled a small side-pistol from his hip, sticking it to Kai's stomach. By reflex, he backflipped away just as he pulled the trigger, leaving his sword behind as the salarian officer picked it up with his left hand, holding his pistol with his right to the assassin in front of the councilor.

"Councilor, are you injured?" the major asked.

"No, thanks to you."

"Four on one now, friend," Shepard said as he stepped up. "Still having fun?"

"No. Not four," Kirrahe said. "Just one."

"Kirrahe? What are you saying?"

"Take the councilor out of here," he said, eyes focused. "You need to stop Udina."

The others, along with the councilor backed away slowly, the major stepping backwards to keep them within range of his protection. Kai slowly stepped forward.

Shepard walked next to the councilor as they stepped away at a slightly faster pace. Then down the steps.

The glass shattered, Kai Leng was there, just a few steps down.

"I didn't say you could leave."

A shout came from above them, Kirrahe came down on Kai with the sword coming in first. The assassin dodged, side-stepped, effortlessly evading the attempted strikes by his own weapon. The salarian was surprisingly skilled with it, but not fast enough to outrun him.

He stabbed, but Kai caught the sword, twisting his wrist to release it and allowing him to take his weapon back. Kirrahe reacted by firing several rounds. Two hit, bouncing off of his shields before he was being pushed into the wall. The major swung around with the momentum, driving a knee into the operative's stomach as he pinned and attempted to hold him to the wall.

"Go!" he said. "Find the council!"

Everyone knew what he was doing at this point. Without hesitating, they rushed the councilor down the stairs to a functioning skycar.

"You're throwing your life away," Kai said, pushing the salarian's chest and knocking him back, the officer's pistol aimed at him. "And for what?"

"To stop terrorists like you and Cerberus? I couldn't ask for a better death," the major smirked, finger on the trigger, ready to pull the second he could catch him. Strangely enough, STG taught him if a target is standing right in front of you, you should use your best judgement on whether or not you should shoot him; he may just move out of the way, which is why you should shoot them then, not before.

Today, though, it wasn't about winning. It was about making sure the councilor got away, no matter what. He knew that the moment he landed on the Citadel.

"Walk away, and I'll spare your short life," he offered. "Your people barely make it to forty. You cannot believe you'll live much longer, even if you somehow make it out of here."

"Heh, I'm 28, I've lived a good life, but I appreciate the concern."

He grimaced, gripping his sword as he bolted towards him. "What a waste!"

**X X X**

"Shepard, what's going on up there?" Bailey asked through the comm.

"Get the word out- Udina's staging a coup and trying to seize power. Send backup to my current location, Major Kirrahe of STG is in trouble dealing with an assassin," he chimed in. "I've gotta get to the councilors."

"Roger that. They're being taken to a shuttle pad on... got it, on the Presidium. Start driving- I'll try to raise them on the comm."

The car door opened as the fighting continued on the inside. "Councilor, after you."

The salarian took a seat in the back, Garrus riding shotgun and Javik in the back with the commander in the driver's seat.

"There's not a lot of room in here," Valern said.

"Try spending fifty-thousand years in something smaller, frozen," Javik said outright.

"Just what are you, anyway?"

"Prothean."

"What? ... Maybe it is better I don't ask."

**X X X**

"I've got a fix on the Council's position, I'm sending it to your car."

The car sped through the sky as fast as it could. Luckily, their location was only a few clicks away. "Good work, Bailey. We're almost there."

_**BANG!**_

The window in the backseat shattered as a sniper shot struck Valern in the arm. He screamed in pain, grabbing the wound immediately to try and stop the bleeding. Fortunately not a direct hit, but the bullet went through the entire car.

And it started to smoke on the outside.

"Damn it, hold on, everyone!" the commander said, slowly losing control of the car, hoping the impact wouldn't kill the councilor they just saved.

The car crashed, skidding over now destroyed portions of the ground. Thankfully the shock not as bad as they expected. "Councilor, are you okay?"

"Yes," he winced. "The bullet grazed me, I'll be fine."

"Alright, people, let's move," Shepard ordered as they stepped out of the crashed skycar.

There were people still running. Not just aliens, but humans, too. Cerberus was shooting innocent humans who just wanted to get away.

"Shepard?" Bailey came in again. "My instruments say your car's stopped."

"I'm on foot now, Councilor Valern is with me, but he's injured. Any luck finding the others?"

"Negative- their guards are all dead. But we've still got vital signs on the councilor's transponders."

"Where are they going?" asking as he ordered his team to standby. A Cerberus shuttle made its way past them. An injured councilor was going to make things difficult.

"The shuttle pad above Shalmar Plaza. Udina's with them. If he can get them in range of that assassin, it's all over."

Shepard glanced over to see three C-Sec officers helping a woman off of the street to safety. When they saw him with the councilor, two quickly rushed over.

"Commander, you guys okay?" one of the officers asked.

He nodded. "We're fine, but Councilor Valern was shot. I'm about to stop Udina from staging a coup against the other two Councilors and I don't want to put him in more danger than he already is. Get him someplace safe."

"Yes, sir!" the turian said. "Councilor, please, come with us."

"I don't know how you did it, Shepard, but you saved my life. Twice. I'm in your debt," the salarian smiled.

"Thank me later, councilor, I'm just doing my job. Garrus, Javik, let's hurry, we don't have much time."

**X X X**

Slammed into a support beam, Kirrahe felt a sharp pain in his back. He had to ignore it, Kai Leng was somehow getting faster, and quite frankly, he had no idea how he lasted this long.

Leng came rushing forward, his sword piercing into the support beam that Kirrahe barely jumped away from. His firearm still in hand, he fired. Three, four, five shots from a good distance.

Then he was right in front of him.

The operative swung a left hook. With what little strength his body had left, he blocked it, grabbing the forearm as hard as he could. All Kai did, was smile.

And that's when he felt the pain, looking down, confirming the horror he felt as the short blade pierced him entirely.

The assassin withdrew his blade, covered in the green blood of the STG major as Kirrahe lost his balance, wincing in pain as he fell back from the amount of blood he had lost so quickly.

He knew it.

This was it.

"How... strange," he weakly said. "I always thought this would be a lot worse."

Kai approached the major, picking his pistol up. Out of ammo, he popped out the thermal clip. One more left as he cocked the barrel back, taking aim at Kirrahe's head.

"Did you really think you could stand in the way of Cerberus' plans? You can't possible comprehend the scale of this operation and what we will accomplish."

The major wheezed, then coughed, blood seeping from his lips. "Not me... no. But someone else will. In fact... they... they already have."

He backed his body up, slowly, against the wall he was next to. He wanted to be comfortable when he went; he'd hate to die with his back misaligned, he smiled to himself in thought.

"And I did... exactly what I was meant to do," he smiled. "You wouldn't understand. But Shepard would."

"And what is that?" the assassin asked.

The major held his smile as he stared into the eyes of his killer. No regrets in his life. None. He accomplished everything he ever wanted to, down to the smallest details. Shepard gave him that chance. The chance to be a hero.

"Holding... the line."

...

...

...

...

...

_**BANG**_

**X X X**

Shepard and his team jumped down from a couple of bushes into a new area. This had to be the plaza Bailey was talking about.

"I'm at Shalmar Plaza now. Where's the Council?"

Bailey was coming in through a lot of static now, but still audible. "In an elevator, they're trying to get to the shuttle dock."

Then, a mech dropped, less than fifty feet in front of them.

"You know, I was wondering when one of those was going to show up," Garrus cheerfully and sarcastically said as they took cover. Shepard behind a door pane, Garrus and Javik behind the top of a stairwell covered by a casing for plants.

"They're eager to please. Isn't Cerberus great?" Shepard smirked as he unpinned a grenade, lobbing it over towards it. The glass for the canopy cracked, but the mech was still unharmed for the most part due to its shields.

Javik unpinned and threw one, as well. Garrus kept pelting the canopy with his rifle, but nothing. "Damn it... wait a second, Garrus, what are you doing?" he said to himself, tapping his forehead.

"The bullets are just going to keep bouncing off. Use the shrapnel from the grenades to break the canopy open so we can take out the pilot inside," Javik said. "What are you thinking, turian? Do not waste ammunition on-"

"Oh, yeah!" the lightbulb in his head went off, how could he forget? He quickly jumped up, charged, then fired off an overload before heading back into cover. He didn't need to be an expert to know the shields completely fried after that shot. "I'm sorry, what were you saying, Javik?"

Javik just irritatedly shook his head.

Shepard took the opportunity, tossing over one more grenade. This time, the canopy broke open as he knew it would. His avenger aimed straight at the center-of-mass of the soldier, and he fired, taking the soldier down instantly.

"Check your ammo and let's move out!" he ordered. "We're almost there. Bailey, how's it looking?"

"Got a ride for you guys. Get to an elevator!"

"On it. Let's go, you guys!"

**End Chapter 4**

**Well, there ya have it, Kai Leng survived his fight with Zaeed. But he had some nifty little scars to go with it. This is roughly the type of death I feel Kirrahe should have deserved if he dies against Leng: Holding his own, but eventually falling short. Just like with Zaeed; exceptional fighter, but can only do so much against a guy who's former N7 and upgraded like crazy.**

**Once again, I REALLY appreciate the reviews I've been getting. You guys have no idea how awesome it feels checking my email and, bam, tons of reviews/followers/favorites right off the bat. Y'all are great, seriously, thanks again. New chapters in the works now, let me know what you think of this one while I whip it up for ya.**


	5. A Deal's A Deal

**Hey, guys! Sorry about taking so long to update. I was using a laptop to write everything, and, well, after 5 and a half years, the screen's backlight went out. What's a backlight? It's the light on your screen that lets you see what's in front of you. Turn your brightness all the way down, and that's pretty much what I was reduced to. Everything is working just fine, I just couldn't see anything. Well, one day, it finally snapped back together, so I quickly picked up the chapter from where it was, emailed it to myself, and now I'm on my mom's desktop. I'm not trying to say go Mac over PC, but… that five and a half year laptop? 2008 MacBook Pro. Permanent customer now.**

**ANYWAY, enough about that. Just wanted to let you guys know what I was up to. I'm okay, the story is okay, we're all okay! I'm SO happy with all of the feedback and followers/favorites that I've been getting with just FOUR chapters. Seriously, that right there is what keeps me going. Hope you guys are ready for more!**

**Chapter 5 – A Deal's A Deal**

Shepard took the steps up to the door leading them to the elevators, Garrus to his side with Javik on the other side.

"What happened back there, Garrus?" Shepard asked.

"What?"

"We've blown up dozens of those mechs up. An overload is an instinct for you."

"You're right," he sighed. "It's just my family. I still haven't heard from my dad or my sister. It creeped up on me during the fight, I won't let it happen again."

They reached the door, listening for anything on the other side.

"Just saying, it's not like you. We'll get a drink when we get back."

"Yeah, let's just save the Council from an attempted Cerberus coup so we can get wasted afterwards. Sounds like my kind of night," he smirked.

The door opened and they quickly skidded through. A second later, Kai Leng was stepping into the open elevator car with a group of phantoms. Shepard bolted to the door, Leng holding his hand out to him with a projectile ready, but the door closed before he got too close.

"This one's open, Shepard," Garrus said as Javik stepped towards the open door.

Only to realize there was no elevator there.

Shepard turned the flashlight to his rifle on, examining the area. The car was _there_, but it was one floor down. They hopped on.

"Bailey, we're on."

"Hang on, this'll be a fast climb!"

Not kidding, the elevator shot up, fast, shaking the team a little bit.

"Tell me that assassin hasn't reached the Council," Shepard said.

"He's trying," Bailey replied. "But I'm making his elevator stop on every floor."

The commander smirked, almost into a chuckle at the idea of him stopping at literally every single floor. "Nice."

"Commander, up there!" Javik pointed.

"Damn it," he tapped his arm. "Bailey, I found our friend."

"Kill his elevator! There's a power conduit underneath it."

"Two generators, easy shots," Garrus said, pulling his sniper rifle out.

Garrus took the first conduit out, Shepard fired after. First two shots missed, but the third connected, throwing the elevator car down in a fallout.

"Good riddance," the turian said.

The next few moments were quiet, from gunfire, anyway. Shepard took the few unknown moments they had to prepare the group for what they were about to face.

"All right," he began. "When we get to the top, we have to assume the Council is unguarded. Assume all unknowns as hostiles."

"Easy," Javik nodded.

"What about Kaidan, Shepard? Didn't Thane say he was going to protect them?" Garrus added in.

The commander nodded. "If Kaidan is there, this will be a lot easier, but be prepared just in case."

"Shepard! Bad news!" Bailey said over the comm.

John just rolled his eyes. "Is there any other kind?"

"That hit man jumped to another elevator, and he's overridden my controls. He's on his way up, I can't stop him."

Shaking his head, Garrus just shrugged. "I'll handle it," he replied to the C-Sec commander.

"Antoher elevator!" Javik pointed again.

This one was the Council's elevator, it had to be. Garrus and Javik took aim at the power conduits.

"Wait, don't shoot them! If we destroy them the car will go into freefall and we lose the Council for sure," he gritted his teeth, he hated doing leaps of faith. "Wait until we match up, then jump!"

Their elevator finally caught up, lining up, jiggling, but stable for a jump.

"Go!" Shepard ordered.

_**Thud**_

_**Thud-thud**_

The Councilors looked up, Kaidan's pistol aimed towards the ceiling.

"What was that?" Tevos said, backing into a wall.

Kaidan's eyes squinted as he focused to where the first foot dropped exactly. "Gunmen, get down!"

The bullet was so close to hitting Shepard that he could almost see its brass head as it flew past him. He rolled to the left as three more shots fired.

"Damn it, Kaidan!" Garrus said as he dodged a bullet by rolling away.

"This is the human who is protecting the Council?" Javik asked. "What a terrible shot!"

Udina pressed the emergency stop button, just as the elevator conveniently reached the top floor.

The door swung open, and Kaidan waved for the galaxy's elite to vacate the car while he kept his aim steady. "Go!" he said, as they ran past him.

He remained a moment longer, waiting for Cerberus to come from the shaft so he could put them down. But they never came. He turned and rushed to catch up with the group of people he swore to protect since he became a Spectre.

He finally made it to the outside, not realizing the shaft being kicked open with Shepard and his team close behind. What Kaidan saw, however, was equally angering him as it was putting him into a sense of hopelessness.

The Alliance shuttle that was waiting for them was completely destroyed; still on fire, actually.

But he had to be a leader, now more than ever. "Cerberus took out the shuttle. Everyone back to the elevator. Move!"

That's when he turned and saw them.

The door shut behind them, Javik rigged the lock to not open conventionally.

They were trapped, all of them.

_-No way. It can't be.-_ Kaidan thought as his pistol raised to his former commander, and one of his closest friends. _–I was right all along…-_

He slowly lowered his pistol. Maybe this was just a terrible coincidence. It had to be. "Shepard, what's going on?" he demanded.

Udina kept his hands up. "Shepard's blocking our escape. He's with Cerberus!"

His pistol went back up, getting in between the Council and two of his former squadmates. "Just, hang on- I got this. Everyone calm down."

Shepard lowered his rifle, slowly. "I can explain this, Kaidan, just listen to me."

Kaidan shook his head. "Come on, Shepard. Gun drawn on a councilor? Kinda looks bad."

Javik's rifle went up, but Shepard placed his hand in front. Then, to Garrus. "Weapons down."

Then, the commander stepped forward once, before glaring to Kaidan. Or was it Udina? The new Spectre couldn't tell. "We don't have time to negotiate. You've been fooled, all of you. Udina's behind this attack. The salarian councilor confirmed it."

Udina rolled his eyes. "Please. You have no proof. You never do."

John wasn't kidding when he said they had no time to negotiate. He kept imagining Kai Leng bursting through the door, killing Javik and Garrus, then him, cutting off Kaidan's head, then butchering the rest of the Council with no one to stop him. He wasn't going to let that happen. He couldn't.

"There are Cerberus soldiers in the elevator shaft behind us. If you open that door, they'll kill you all!" he said, his frustration was dead obvious. But for concern, or because he was afraid of getting caught? That's what Kaidan kept wondering to himself. Why would Shepard do this? It wasn't like him.

Tevos finally spoke up. "We mistrusted Shepard before," the asari began. "It did not help us in the past."

Frustrated, Udina walked towards the control panel to the lock for the shuttle. "We don't have time to debate this! We're dead if we stay out here. I'm overriding the lock."

Shepard took a step forward, pistol drawn on Udina. Kaidan stepped in between them, gun for gun, eye for eye, barrel for barrel.

Was this really happening?

No. He wouldn't allow it.

"I better not regret this," Kaidan said.

"You won't," Shepard replied, watching Kaidan turn from him towards Udina. He watched the major step past the two councilors, now only a few dozen feet away from Udina.

"Udina, step away from the council," the major said, gun now drawn on the man he was supposed to protect.

Donnell knew he was caught. He ignored it. "To hell with this!" he growled, punching like mad on the keys to override the lock. At this point, all he wanted to do was get out alive.

"Shepard, the door!" Garrus said, tapping him to get his attention. John turned to the lock, now being overridden.

Damn it. Leng was about to get through.

He put his aim on the human rep. He didn't want to do this, but there were no other options now.

That's not true. They could do nothing, and die.

Tevos walked up to him, grabbing his hand to stop him. Udina simply shoved her to the ground.

Then, he pulled out a pistol.

"Gun!" Kaidan said. "Put it down!"

_**BANG!**_

Udina's pistol clicked to the floor. Kaiden and Shepard's eyes opened. They didn't shoot.

The human councilor's coat bled, red seeping through as he hunched forward, then fell, dead.

Behind him, the smoking gun of a familiar drell assassin holstered itself back into the belt of the owner.

"Thane?" Shepard said.

"Hands up, Thane!" Kaidan ordered.

"Kaidan, wait!" John said, now next to him. "Thane's with us. Remember, Udina is the one who staged the coup. He just saved all of us."

Kaidan stopped. He remembered. It was just hard to take in what had just happened in front of him. He holstered his pistol. "Thank you."

"I thought something happened to you," Shepard said as he walked to meet Thane.

"I was incapacitated for some time. Salarian sedatives. I was… stuffed into an air duct."

"Salarian? How could you tell?"

"The salarian left the syringe on purpose. And a message. It said, 'Sorry'."

"Kirrahe," the commander said to himself. "He stopped you from reaching the councilor on purpose. There was an assassin waiting. Kirrahe fought him off while we got away. If you had came and he did not-"

"I see. He gave his life for mine, in a sense. I imagine there is more to it. Regardless, I am fine. Though… breathing is difficult."

That was clear now that the adrenaline was wearing off. Thane's breathing was wheezed, and easily heard. There's no telling how much he had exerted himself getting up here in time to save the Council.

The doors began sparking. Everyone turned their attention to it considering how quickly it was moving up.

Everyone quickly aimed at the door as it swung open and-

"Bailey?"

Guns down now. "Made it as fast as we could, Shepard. Looks like you, uh, took care of things."

"Something's not right," Tevos said. "You said Cerberus was targeting us; where did their soldiers go?"

"Cerberus was right here, but they beat feet into the keeper tunnels when they figured out we were coming," Bailey clarified. "Sorry, Councilor, I'll say it plain: Shepard just saved the lot of you."

"Then you have saved my life twice now, Shepard" Sparatus began. "I owe you both a personal debt, and one on behalf of Palaven."

Shepard just shook his head. "You don't owe me anything, Councilor. Times like this we all stand together," he glanced to his right, Garrus holding Thane somewhat from his illness finally catching up to him. "I might have stopped Cerberus, but the man who really saved your life is right here."

"There is no need to thank me. I just… I…"

Thane's head spun, everything felt hot and disorienting. He felt himself falling sideways, echoing sounds of people, he thought they were his friends, calling to him. All he knew, was he was not in control of himself.

Then, it all went black.

**X X X**

Bruised, sore, tired, dehydrated, but still, he had a duty to check on his men. Shepard walked into the medical bay of the Normandy to see Karin, typing away at her desk.

"Commander," she said as she turned to him. "Come to check in on Mr. Massani?"

He nodded. "And Thane, if he's awake."

"Zaeed is in and out because of the pain medication. His daughter has been sitting with him the entire time. Thane is still out. He was just exhausted and needs rest."

"Thank you," he said, stepping through the seemingly bigger rooms. Thane's room was to the left. He peeked in to see simple machines taking his vitals, an IV for drells hooked up, and a comforting steady heartbeat. He smiled, knowing that he lived through all this considering what had happened.

He walked into the room across; hearing low levels of conversation come to a halt as he entered.

"Commander," Jessie said as she got up. She had a gauze patch wrapped up around her shoulder where she had been shot. "My dad's going to be okay. I wanted to thank you."

"Zaeed's helped me a lot. You should be proud of him, Jessie."

"That's the thing… I don't know where I would start. I don't even remember him when I was a little girl. It's been… God, I can't even remember," she sighed.

John walked over to his bedside, Jessie watched him as he pointed to his eye. "I shouldn't be the one who tells you this, but look at his eye. That might have something to do with why you don't remember him, and why he hasn't been around."

She shrugged, wincing as the pain in her shoulder came rushing in. "He did say it was complicated. I'll ask him when he wakes up. What are the chances, huh? I don't see my father in over twenty years, then he suddenly comes in, saves my life from a Cerberus assassin, and now here we are…"

"Just hear him out. Your father loves you," he nodded, putting a hand on her good shoulder.

She smiled. "Thanks. I'll talk to him about it later, when we're both better."

"How's your shoulder doing?"

"It's an infection from the gunpowder residue and just basic exposure. I just need antibiotics for a few more days and I'll be good. Speaking of which… I forgot my pills in my bunk."

"Your bunk? Back on the Citadel?"

She shook her head. "Nope. On here. Per… mission to come aboard, sir?"

Johm smirked. "Granted; I can't pry a father and daughter from each other. But you might want to check with him before you get all settled in."

"Yes sir," she saluted, walking out soon after.

A few moments passed by. Shepard just shook his head. "She's a lot like you, you know?"

Zaeed scoffed, opening his eyes as he sat up in the bed. "She's too nice. Her trigger finger she gets from me. But her lollygagging, yeah, she got that from Mariah, my wife."

"I heard she was killed in the attack. I'm sorry."

He waved it off. "Don't be."

"You ok with Jessie coming on board?" he turned to him, crossing his arms.

"Sure as hell beats C-Sec work after the Cerberus attack. My little girl's special response; they'll be fishing out Cerberus stragglers and pocket gangs for weeks. No, she's safer here."

"I gotta say, Zaeed. I like this new side of you," the commander smiled.

"Yeah, right. Jessie's all I've got left, literally. We might be going into the unknown against the Reapers, but I know she's safer here than anywhere else," he said as he stared at the ceiling.

"We? Who's this we?" he teased.

Zaeed turned to him. "Once I'm out of this bed, I'm reporting in for the next available mission. I'm not leaving Jessie."

Shepard came up to him, reaching his hand out as they joined in. "Glad to have you back, Zaeed."

"Damn good to be back, Shepard."

**X X X**

"I'm sorry, okay? It was an accident," Kaidan said as he leaned on the table in the mess hall.

"I don't suppose you have another uniform in my size just lying around, do you?" Jessie glared at him.

Shepard walked out to see the major and young Massani in an argument. "What's going on here?"

"Shepard. I-"

"This jackass spilled spaghetti all over me!" she whined. "This is the only uniform I have on board, and who's going to help me out of this dirty uniform? Have you SEEN my shoulder?"

"Spaghetti again?" John wondered out loud. "Kaidan, come on, you're better than that. What happened?"

"I'm sorry, Commander. I just came to get some food after Dr. Chakwas drew blood from me for Zaeed. A lot of blood. I was just really dizzy and I guess I bumped into-"

Suddenly, arms around his neck, face in his chest, spaghetti on his uniform all at once.

"What did I-"

"Thank you," she said, letting go and backing off him a little bit. "I'm sorry, I got spaghetti all over your uniform. I'm Jessie. Zaeed is my father. You may have saved his life."

"How about that," Kaidan smiled. "Glad I could help. Sorry about… the spaghetti."

She chuckled, for what felt like the first time in forever. "It's fine, I'm sure one of the girls has something I can wear while I wash this. See you guys later."

Kaidan sat, eating his roll, which he caught when he spilled his food all over Jessie. "Man. What a day."

"You're telling me."

"How are Thane and Zaeed doing?"

"Zaeed's awake, but he took a really nasty stab from Kai Leng and lost a lot of blood. He'll be out for a little while. Thane's sleeping for now; I've got Karin looking up anything we can do to help for him."

"I see. That bad, huh? I guess it's a good thing no one died."

Shepard shook his head. "No. Kirrahe didn't make it."

Kaidan swallowed. He forgot about that. Truth be told, he forgot about Kirrahe for a second. He remembers going under his command on Virmire. He was surprisingly capable as a fighter.

"He was a good man."

John just nodded.

"Have you… you know, have you talked to Miranda at all since this whole thing started?"

"Not as much as I should," he replied. "I haven't seen her in a couple of weeks when we took you to Huerta after what happened on Mars."

"Yeah… I ran into EDI."

"Oh, no, Kaidan. I should've warned you."

"You're telling me!" he yelped in a humorous sort of tone. "I almost put an entire thermal clip in our ship's AI cause she was using the body of the person that slammed my head into a shuttle! Twice!"

**X X X**

It was the perfect hideaway. Well, for the person Miranda was going to see. She knew him too well; this was where he was.

She heard a twig snap, and she turned, pistol facing… nothing.

"I swear, I can't hide from you at all, can I?" the male voice said, right behind the former operative.

"Miranda Lawson," he smirked.

She dropped her weapon, turning to face him. Tall, medium length dark-brown hair, well groomed, clean-shaven. Dark blue jeans, a solid olive green button up dress shirt with a black pea coat over it.

"Alex Viers. You look… the same."

"Yeah, well, the boss was good to me. What can I say?" he sheepishly smiled. "I see you aren't wearing the badge anymore. But I knew that already."

"Really. And here I was thinking you just liked looking at my personality," she glared. "This isn't a social call, Alex. I need information."

"Yeah, yeah, don't they always," he crossed his arms. "Lucky for you, I'm back in the game."

"What?" she asked. "Back in? With Cerberus?"

"God, no. I'm… freelancing. Let's just call it that."

"You're back to the way you were when Jacob and Kai were with me when we found you."

He rolled his eyes. "Now, now, now, that was different. I just killed for no reason because it was fun! But now! Now, I have a purpose. I'm close to finding something, Miranda. The Reapers. They're strong, but their foundation is so fragile, we could indoctrinate THEM. Think about-"

"You hate the Illusive Man so much, yet you talk just like him these days. I'm not trying to get on anyone's side here. I want to know why my father is working with Cerberus."

"You're gonna kill him? No, that's too empty of a task, you could do that any second if you wanted to- Wait! You… want… Ori."

"Where is she," she neared a growl. Alex knew how to push her buttons; it didn't help he was a borderline psychopath.

"Don't worry, he's got her. She's safe, too. Isn't that nice of him? Hm… let's see… last... I... heard… Pie."

"Pie?" Miranda never thought she would ask a question with such anger, using such a simple word.

"Pie, pie, pie! Dr. Lawson bought his research staff pie off of the Citadel just _hours_ before the attack. He's several systems over; eastbound."

"This is a waste of time," she said, picking up her weapon and holstering it. "I won't be back here again. I'm going to the Citadel. Don't follow me."

She turned after picking up her weapon, but he was gone.

The cabin was gone, as well.

"What," she said to herself. "Alex? Where did you go?"

Silence.

Her stomach turned. This was the last place she wanted to come to, but he was probably the only helpful lead he could get that wouldn't kill her. Even still, no matter where you found him, he was gone in the blink of an eye when he was done.

The experiment that went horribly, horribly wrong.

**End Chapter 5**

**Hey! So, I'm hoping you guys liked this chapter, and I hope you like the direction I'm taking… although, to be honest, I'm still wondering myself where I'm taking this bad boy. It's so weird, people always used to tell me that stories can write themselves. It's definitely starting to take on a mind of its own even though it's still relatively early.**

**Anyway, if you haven't figured it out yet: Alex is bat shit crazy. And you'll see more of him. I don't know WHEN, but you'll see him again. And don't worry, Miranda and Shepard will see each other SOON! Maybe… next chapter? We'll see ;] **


	6. Chameleon

**Hey, guys. So, here comes the sixth chapter, and with it, a lot of new developments. What exactly do I mean by that? Well, you'll just have to see for yourself. Don't worry, though, Miranda is working her way back in, slowly, but surely. She might be back in the story completely before you know it! Like I said, this story has been almost writing itself entirely. Crazy how that works, right?**

**Chapter 6 – Chameleon**

Shepard walked out of the shower, towel around his waist as he sat in his chair to check his private messages.

Nothing again.

He glanced to the right of it. There was a picture Miranda left him when they parted ways before he returned to the Alliance. A couple of times he had come back from drinking with Garrus, and he would sit and have a conversation with the picture. Even when he wasn't drunk off his ass, he talked to it, hoping it would talk back. But it never did. Even still, he enjoyed its company. He enjoyed her company. He just enjoyed her, period.

"Commander," Samantha chimed in.

"Yes, Traynor, what is it?" he replied.

"Thane is awake now. He's asking for you. Shall I tell him you'll be on your way?"

Thane was awake. Finally, some good news.

"Tell him I'm on my way."

"Yes, sir."

**X X X**

John stepped through the door to Thane's room. Thane sat up, under the covers with his upper body bare.

"Glad to see you're alright, Thane," he said.

"Yes. Fortunately, it was just dehydration. Your physician is relatively skilled with taking care of me. I was not expecting to feel any sort of comfort while I was here."

"I just told Dr. Chakwas that it was practically hemoglobin. She just worked around it," he shrugged.

Thane nodded. "I see. That is not why I called you here. I have an issue to discuss with you. I'm… 'stuck between a rock and a hard place' as the expression goes."

Shepard was confused. THANE was in a predicament? He hasn't seen that since they saved Kolyat. "What's wrong? Are you ok?"

"I am fine, yes. I received a message from the asari Councilor. She is… considering me, for Spectre candidacy."

"A drell Spectre? You'd be the first. Congratulations. Did you accept?"

Thane shook his head. "I have not given her a decision. I explained my condition to her repeatedly. She said they would find ways to work around it; the title would be a courtesy for saving them from Udina."

"I see," Shepard said. He crossed his arms. "Thane, you're one of the most gifted fighters I've ever met. Even sick, you evaded Cerberus commandos, scaled dozens of stories to save the Council, and then stopped Udina from killing us all. I'd say you're a more qualified Spectre than Kaidan and I were when we first joined."

"Kaidan fought right next to the Council, and you were chasing Saren when you joined. I'm stuck in a bed. I can't do much good for the Drell lying here like this."

"Did the Councilor explain what she meant by wanting to work around it?"

"No. But, it's been a couple of weeks, and Dr. Chakwas put in a requisition order to pick up medical supplies for my condition from the hospital. We can discuss it with them there, if you will accompany me," he politely requested.

"No problem, Thane. It's the least I can do."

"Thank you, Shepard. I don't plan to fight again, but I will do as much as I can to help further drell interest, however possible it may be."

**X X X**

Two weeks. It had been that long? It felt like a couple of hours went by when they were just with the Quarians. The Fleet was still preparing to assault Rannoch, so for the moment, Shepard and the others had a small window of time to prepare. He assumed small, they really did move quickly.

Regardless, Shepard, Kaidan, and Thane made their way to the meeting room for the Councilors to discuss Thane's candidacy, and likely, try to argue why he should join. Thane really was a man of conviction.

"You know, Thane," Kaidan began. "Not that I don't understand why you'd turn down the offer to be a Spectre, but wouldn't you like to at least add that title? I mean, I don't know, it just seems like they're giving you a free ticket."

"That's exactly my point, Kaidan, it's free. You and Shepard worked hard to achieve your status, and can continue to fulfill your role. I can no longer work at my best," he replied.

"Let's not worry just yet," John cut in as the door opened, the Council just ahead of them. "You never know, Thane."

"Commander Shepard. Major Alenko," Tevos greeted them. "Mr. Krios. Thank you all for coming."

"Thank you, Councilor. I'm sorry to waste your time, but my decision still stands," Thane politely said.

"Yes, we understand your concern," Sparatus said. "However, we've only extended this offer after serious deliberation, and lengthy investigation with the Hanar and Drell Drug Administration."

"What are you saying?" Kaidan asked. "Are you asking for a doctor's note so he can become a Spectre? He's still dying."

"On the contrary," Valern replied. "Kepral's Syndrome has been cured. For quite some time, actually."

"What?" Shepard said, in shock, and incoming anger. "There's been a cure for this disease while drell have been dying and you've been keeping it from them?"

"This only became known to us recently. Cures for terminal illnesses for many species have just began surfacing within the last few months since Reaper forces began attacking. The turian equivalent for what humans have, Lou Gehrig's disease, has been archived as cured for decades, yet it just became publicly available two weeks ago."

"However, like humans were for a long period of your history," Sparatus added on. "Treatment is more profitable than an actual cure. Governments are still just as corruptible no matter the species."

"That's just great. Glad to know greed is still universal across the galaxy," Kaidan spat.

Thane simply stood with his arms behind his back. This was a flood through his mind. Was it actually possible?

"In any event, before we formally offer you to join as the first drell Spectre, we would like for you to begin the medication for the cure of Kepral's Syndrome. If you find it successful, and desire to join, you are welcome to. If not, we hope you live a long and prosperous life," Sparatus said. "But, in the end, it is your decision. You will receive a cure regardless."

As if on cue, an asari nurse brought Thane an orange plastic bottle. On it was his name, the description of the medicine, and directions on usage.

"I was ready to die. I had accepted it," Thane said. "Knowing that there is a cure, and has been a cure… it is comforting as it is angering," he looked up towards the Council. "I will begin taking the medication. When I am cured, I will accept your offer, and join the Spectres."

"We're pleased to hear you have accepted our offer," Tevos said. "We look forward to your speedy recovery, Thane. This meeting is adjourned."

**X X X**

With Thane resting from the medication making him drowsy, and Kaidan back on the Normandy, Shepard took a few minutes to take in some fresh air. Well, artificial fresh air, but air all the same.

His wrist vibrated. Traynor was probably trying to reach him. "Samantha? Everything ok?"

"Yes, Commander. I've got an urgent message coming into your private terminal, however."

"Put it through."

"Yes, sir."

He had to squint his eyes a little bit, but he was able to clearly read what was being said.

_Shepard,_

_It's me. I'm on the Citadel right now. I need to talk to you as soon as you get this. Meet me in the Presidium Commons, apartment 86. I'll be waiting there."_

_Miranda_

John's mind kicked into overdrive. He hadn't seen Miranda in months, and here he was, in the Commons at the moment. He bolted down the hallway, careful not to bump into people or trip over debris. He got to the apartment stairwell. He turned left and rushed up the stairs. Thank god there were arrows telling him what number group he was going towards; he would've hated to run the wrong way.

"82… 84… 86! There it is!" he said to himself as he opened the door.

She turned to him, standing by the window. The sun bounced off of her hair, almost a glare hitting his face, but that didn't bother him.

She was there.

"Shepard," she said, cool as ever.

The commander said nothing. He just walked up to her, looked at her, and hugged her.

She giggled lightly. "Hey, you. I take it someone missed me."

Shepard smiled. "Yeah. Maybe a little bit."

She backed off slightly, leaning up, kissing him lightly, then breaking away. "I wish I had more time to stay, but this is important."

"What's wrong? Everything okay?"

"Shepard… I need access to Alliance resources. That's all I can say. I'm sorry, you'll just have to trust me."

This was unexpected.

"I trust you, but I don't like secrets. Remember, we promised. What's going on?"

Miranda shook her head. "I'm sorry. I can't. If that's a problem, I'll go-"

He grabbed her waist and pulled her in. He looked at her. She was so beautiful. Sure, her father made her that way, but he could see it written across her face; she was exhausted. When was the last time she slept? Or ate? To know she was doing all of this for her sister, it only seemed right that she was the woman he fell in love with.

"No, it's fine. I just… I don't like being in the dark. You'll have your access."

"I'm sorry, John. You know I wouldn't do this unless I had a good reason," she sighed. "I messed up. I really stirred up a hornet nest, and I need to take care of some things. When this is all done, I promise I'll explain everything."

He nodded. Miranda was a terrible liar, and he knew she wasn't being deceptive. Holding back, sure, but he knew she would tell him.

"Can I at least get a hint?" he asked.

She frowned. "No. I can't. At least not right now," she said, walking over to a desk, writing something down and handing it to him. "When I find something else out, I promise I'll find you."

Shepard took the note and watched Miranda walk out to the left. He opened it, his mood changing every second as he read what it said.

_Thanks for the access, Shepard. Hopefully the FDA back down on Earth has the last of what I need. People do a really bad job of guarding their pharmaceuticals, you know what I mean?_

_Tell Miranda I said hi. Man, you really hit the jackpot with her; that bitch has got ALL SORTS of problems. By the way, I've rigged the room to explode. Sorry! You're just KIND OF in my way. You know how it is!_

_Alex_

"Alex?"

The door opened, Shepard aiming his pistol to… Miranda?

"Miranda?"

"Shepard. What's going on? I got your message."

"Message? I got one from you."

Miranda's head clicked. "Oh, shit."

**X X X**

Hands in pocket, Alex walked past a group of C-Sec officers, just passing safe distance as his right hand reached for the detonator, flipping it open and pressing it.

_**BOOM!**_

_**BOOMBOOM!**_

_**BOOMBOOMBOOM!**_

_**BOOM!**_

"Uh oh. I just wanted to take out that room, not the whole complex" he said to himself before looking to the officers in a frantic look. "Help! My cat is in that building! Someone call the fire department!"

The officers bolted to the scene of the crime, Alex simply smirked and walked away. "It's fun to be simple; everyone falls for it."

**X X X**

John grunted, lifting the chunk of concrete off of his back. He glanced down at Miranda; dirty, a few cuts, but a-okay.

"Miranda?"

"Nice to see you, too," she said as he helped her up. "What happened?"

"I got a message from you telling me to meet you here."

"As did I, I came as soon as I… wait, didn't you have a note with you when I walked in?"

Shepard looked around and found the paper, crumpled up on the ground close to them. "There it is."

Miranda picked it up, reading through it before ripping it in half. "Damn it! That little bastard! I knew I shouldn't have gone to him."

"Who's Alex, Miranda? He just asked me for Alliance resources, and I gave them to him thinking it was you."

"You- Oh, damn it all," she growled. "Shepard, we CANNOT let him get into the FDA."

"What's he planning on doing?"

"I'll explain on the way. We have to go. I'm telling you, we don't have a lot of time."

**X X X**

They were back on the Normandy before they knew it. Shepard practically yelled his orders to Joker as he ran into the command center to get a hold of Anderson and Hackett.

"Traynor, put me in with Admiral Anderson!"

"Yes, sir, coming through… now. Go ahead."

"Shepard, is everything okay?"

"No, sir. We've got a situation, and I'm coming back to Earth to deal with it."

"What? You're coming back now? You can't come back now, damn it, the Reapers will never let you leave!" the admiral replied, anxiously.

"Admiral, you need to be on the lookout for a human named Alex Viers. He-"

"Viers? Alex Viers?" his eyes quirked. "That's not possible, son."

"He just tried to blow me up in an apartment on the Citadel! He's alive, and he's heading for the FDA headquarters in Maryland to do a major raid on pharmaceuticals."

"No, I mean… Alex Viers was an N7 killed during the First Contact War. You're sure it was him? Did you see his face?"

"No. He was disguised as someone else."

"Damn it. So the rumors were true, it wasn't just a conspiracy theory."

"Anderson, what's going on?"

"Viers was… is, I should say, not human. Not anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"He was captured in the first couple of months during the war with the turians. Only back then, the turians knew very little about humans. They took prisoners, only to experiment on them and find major weaknesses to better combat us."

"He's a guinea pig that can't die?"

"Worse than that: his DNA bonded with the acids in some of the biological weapons the turians used on him to extract information. Some rogue asaris would hire themselves out and meld their consciousness with him. There was a rumor that it was done to him so often, that his DNA accepted some of it into him."

This was getting to be a little too much for him. "So he's part… turian, and part asari?"

Anderson waved his hands. "I know. It didn't make any god damn sense when I heard about it. It's like those stories you used to hear as a kid about what we were doing to each other."

"How is that even possible? Wouldn't that have killed him?"

"No one knows, that's why no one believed the stories when they came out. Viers escaped, according to the story, after he mentally broke down and killed everyone in the lab. Dozens of scientists, soldiers, and other prisoners," he paused for a second. "The more I read about it, the more I told myself it had to be fake. A team raided the lab, only to find everyone inside mutilated and disfigured beyond immediate recognition. They never recovered his body, so they labeled him MIA assumed KIA."

"Except he's alive, and insane, and now has DNA from different species melded into his system somehow," John rubbed his head. They never got a break.

"If he's looking for drugs it's likely that he needs them to survive. Even if his body can hold asari DNA, it sure as hell won't balance," he started. "He'll need to counteract it, or it'll kill him. You just gotta make sure he doesn't take anything."

"Understood. We'll be there as soon as we can."

"God help us all if he's still alive. Anderson out."

**X X X**

Everyone stood in the meeting room. It was difficult for everyone to wrap their minds around a fairytale character actually existing. Worse, he was going to rob the humans of their major supply of medical equipment.

"You're… kidding, right?" Kaidan asked, clearly freaked. "So, what is he, some kind of super biotic? Like Jack?"

"Even I didn't have much information on FCW experiments. But since the asari are so universal," Liara began. "It's possible he could survive with our DNA bonded to his, but the amount of pharmaceuticals needed to maintain the balance is extensive. If it is balanced, though, there's no telling what kind of power he has."

"I know," Miranda cut in. "Cerberus hired him for a short amount of time. I never thought I would see Kai Leng scared of someone. We would go on missions to investigate, and Alex would just slaughter everyone he saw," her flashbacks reminded her of why she was glad the Illusive Man put a hit out on him. "He told me he wants to control the Reapers, like the Illusive Man wants. The only difference is that he might _actually_ be able to do it."

"Wait, how is that even possible?" Garrus asked. "Even if he is some type of demi-god or whatever he thinks he is, how can an organic indoctrinate a machine? It just doesn't make sense, Miranda."

"No, but DNA bonding does," Javik cut in. "Before I was born, my people were rumored to have conducted brutal experiments on other species they were at war with. They would survive, and were unleashed on the battlefield to be studied, where they normally drove themselves mad and ended up dying out internally."

"Listen, people, this isn't going to be easy," the commander began. "We've got to get back to Earth, dodge the Reapers, find Alex, and stop him from raiding the FDA. He gets there before we do, we lose the battle, and might lose the war."

"Fuck it, let's go get him," James nodded.

"Run and gun is the answer? You'll never get him that way. We can't warn him, he has to not expect us. We see a shot, we take it. He isn't bulletproof, but his biotics are advanced to the point of where they're constantly active," she leaned back. "The second he knows you're there, you lose the element of surprise."

"Well… damn," the marine replied.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Zaeed said, hanging on a pair of crutches.

Jessie glared at her father. "Dad, no. You can barely walk."

Shepard looked at Miranda. "Miranda, is there _anything_ else about Alex we need to know about?"

She thought for a second, then a light went off in her head. "There is one thing. Alex…"

**X X X**

Everything had happened so quickly, Shepard completely forgot that Miranda was back on the Normandy. Even better, she was back here, in his cabin with him.

"You ok?" she asked, blanket covering her naked body as she reached onto his bare chest.

"Yeah. I guess I just can't wrap my head around this Alex guy. It's like our problems just keep getting bigger."

She moved in closer, putting her head on his chest. Even though the circumstances weren't good- when were they ever- she was just happy to be back with him for the moment.

"Can he really move objects just like that? How do we fight something like that?"

"He can't do it for long. The wilder the ability, the more it demands from his body, meaning he has to have medicine ready. He was MIA for years, never using his abilities to try and stay hidden. When the Reapers started attacking, he saw it as an opportunity to seize power back."

"What a time to act now," he said, shaking his head. "How bad can this get? You know, if he gets what he needs from the FDA?"

Miranda paused for a moment. She had seen Alex do some unbelievable things before, but he had to take over a month's supply of medicine to stay alive. "He went into a coma one time after he pulled a turian heavy cruiser out from orbit. He pulled it down and crashed it into a hostile base we had taken information from. I told the Illusive Man to just let him die, but he saw usefulness in someone who could defy the laws of… well, everything. A year later, he woke up and was back on his feet like nothing ever happened."

"So we get him away from his pills, and he goes down? Just like that?"

"Just like that," she leaned up, kissing him. "I'm thinking of going down to the mess hall to get something to eat. You hungry?"

"Yeah, I've gotta organize some things in the log. I'll see you when you get back."

Miranda quickly grabbed her things, clothing herself again as she slipped her boots back on and made her way to the door of the cabin.

"Miranda," John said.

"Yes?"

"I'm glad you're back."

She smiled. "Me, too."

**X X X **

What a dump, Alex thought, as he trailed through the destroyed streets of Maryland. Gunfire was close to him, but he kept his hands in his coat pockets, walking like he was on his way to work.

Suddenly, pods dropped in front of him, crashing and uplifting earth. He stopped and looked at the minor destruction.

Marauders roared from the pods, husks joining them as they bolted towards him.

Alex just kept walking as they rushed him, no care or any sign of expression across his face. All he did, was take his hands out of his pockets.

The first marauder raised his rifle. Alex flicked his wrist from his right hand. The rifle flew from its hand, and his neck snapped just at the same time.

Two husks reached him. He raised his left hand, stopping them in suspension. He closed his hand, then quickly opened it, violently throwing them back into the second marauder who impaled itself on the rebar from a broken concrete barrier.

He walked past the rifle of the first marauder, picking it up. He checked the ammunition; still full. One husk was on his right. He aimed, two shots to the head, then swung to his left, cracking the skull open of the other one as it dropped to the ground.

He then did something he was working on for quite some time. He took the thermal clip from the rifle, pouring the bullets into his hand as three more husks came towards him at different angles.

He smirked, tossing the bullets into the air with his left hand. He raised both, opening them, freezing the bullets in the air.

He dropped his arms down diagonally, like a composer, watching the bullets flood the bodies of the husks as the calibers ripped them to shreds.

And Alex, he just kept walking. His left hand came up, wiping the blood from his nose that came running down during the fight.

"Hungry. That's what I am."

**End Chapter 6**

**So, yeah, Alex is going to be a BIT of a pain for everyone right now. Yay for Miranda suddenly coming on board the Normandy! Bet you weren't expecting Thane to be cured, much less achieve Spectre status, were you? If you have any questions or concerns about Alex's abilities, Thane's sudden cure, or anything like that, I'm going to answer them in the next chapter. Don't worry, I won't leave something wild like this unanswered. Thanks again for the reviews, keep em coming! New chapter in the works right now.**


	7. Cat and Mouse

**So here we are, back on Earth. A little unexpected, but Shepard's got a whole new list of problems on his hands now. Wonder how much of a problem Alex will be? You'll just have to see for yourself!**

**Chapter 7 – Cat and Mouse**

"I've got a really bad feeling about this, Commander," Joker said. "We barely got out last time, now Earth is crawling with Reapers."

"I don't want to do it, either, Joker," Shepard replied, arms crossed. "But nothing good is going to come out of Alex stealing all of the medicine we're using for the Alliance right now."

Miranda came in just a few moments later. "Shepard, we're all set."

"Joker, take us in."

The helmsman rolled his eyes. "Just another day on the job."

The Normandy docked into a small Alliance port just minutes later. The door opened, Shepard stepping out first, followed by Miranda, Garrus, Javik, Kaidan, James, Tali, Liara, EDI, and Jessie picking up the tail end.

"Jessie!" called an older male voice. She turned to see her father, still in crutches.

"Dad, you're not stopping me from going. I'm C-Sec, remember?"

"I know. You're my girl, no daughter of mine would run from a fight," he nodded. "Watch yourself, though. This Alex fellow seems goddamn insane."

She leaned in, kissing the top of his forehead. "I'll be fine."

"Yeah, yeah, get out of here," he looked on, watching his daughter train on with the rest of the team.

"Miranda," Garrus said, caught up to her side now. "You said Alex needs a heavy amount of pharmaceuticals to survive whenever he uses his biotics. What exactly does he need? Drug administrations can carry an unknown amount of supplies."

"It's an antibiotic called achillea millefolium. It naturally boosts the immune systems within humans. Since he has asari DNA bonded to him, he's using biotics unnatural to his system at an unregulated level. This keeps him alive, or at the very least, it keeps him from using his abilities."

"That's a natural antibiotic, though," Kaidan said. "Why would the FDA keep a natural product in its facilities? It's all about synthetic medication, mostly."

"Mostly," she replied.

"Ever get the feeling there's more to the company than meets the eye?" Shepard asked.

Kaidan shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Maybe it's just hard for me to accept we're still deceiving ourselves when this is the time for us to all ban together."

As the team approached the doors to the base sooner, the doors swung open, the marines saluted as Admiral Anderson stepped out.

"Admiral?" Shepard asked.

"Shepard. Didn't think you'd be bringing the whole party."

"We like to keep it simple," Garrus replied.

"Clearly. Come on in, I'll brief you all on what's going on now."

**X X X**

"So he's not there, yet," Shepard confirmed.

"That's right. The best way we've been able to track his movements was by examining current Reaper activity," the admiral pointed to an area southwest of the FDA headquarters. "We've had heavy resistance in this area up until three hours ago. Our scouts have been reporting back…"

"I don't see the problem," Garrus said. "Was it so bad that your scouts wouldn't even come back?"

David nodded. "Yeah. That's the thing; they keep telling us that it's bare. Worse, that Reaper forces keep coming through, but they keep getting wiped out."

Images of the battlefield left a chilling feeling to the others. Marauders, Brutes, even Banshees, disfigured, necks snapped, torn up from bullet wounds; a skilled team could do this, but one person?

"That's Alex's handiwork," Miranda said. "The necks. He snaps them by flicking his wrist. It takes a large amount of his biotic strength to use, but it's a guaranteed kill."

"Yeah, well, this guy isn't bulletproof like you said," James said. "He's gotta be running out of juice given how many he's killed."

"Maybe," Liara said with her hand cupping her chin. "But it doesn't seem likely he would use attacks of that magnitude without having medication with him already. He's probably low, but he's still able to function would be my guess."

"So how do we get him weak?" Tali asked. "Do we just let him throw us around and break our necks until he runs out of energy? There has to be another way."

"There is," Miranda said. "His entire time spent with Cerberus, he's always been known for having low stamina. He tires easily, even without using his abilities. If he's being hunted, he'll run. When he's out of energy, he'll hide."

"Then all we have to do is deal with an insane N7 veteran," Shepard added in with a small frown. "But it's our best bet. We need to cut off his escape and keep him on the run."

"Yes, that sounds like the best course of action," the admiral nodded. "FDA headquarters is about an hour's drive from here. I wish we could do more for you here, Shepard, but we've put all resources that we still have to monitoring Reaper activity. Don't forget they're still out there. Alex is using the Reapers to hide."

"Understood. Let's go, people, double-time!"

**X X X**

_**Food and Drug Administration Headquarters**_

_**10903 New Hampshire Ave, Silver Spring, Maryland **_

Alex turned corner, cold, sweating, using a small piece of paper to plug the blood coming from his nose after fighting more Reaper forces than he would have liked.

"There you are," he said to himself; victory was in sight. All that stood in his way were four armed Alliance guards.

He walked to them, waving at them to get their attention. "Hey! I need help, I was attacked!"

"Stay there, sir, we'll get a bus over here," the guard said with his hand forward, signaling him to stop.

"Yeah, you see," Alex replied, faking a limp. "I hear you guys have some GREAT drugs in there that can help me get back on my feet. I'm a freelancer with the Alliance, and, well-"

"I'm sorry, sir," the soldier said. "We cannot allow anyone without authorization into the building. Reapers are every-"

Finally just outright irritated and bored with waiting, Alex waved his left hand, throwing the first soldier head first into a wall, killing him instantly.

"I need backup!" the second soldier yelled, raising his avenger to Alex.

He opened his right hand, throwing the second soldier several dozens of feet away. The third and fourth soldier aimed. The fourth soldier fired first, but Alex stopped the bullets with his right hand from hitting him, instead, re-directing them to the third guard as it ripped through his shields. He was dead before he hit the floor. In the same moment, a flick from his wrist and fingers snapped the neck of the fourth soldier, dropping him and leaving the area cleared.

Alex stepped to the front door, noticing a keypad on the handles now. "Security upgrade. Just what will stop the Reapers!" he sarcastically said out loud.

A few punches in, and the green light opened, allowing him access as the door opened.

"Shepard, I owe ya," he smiled as a thin line of blood fell from his left eye. "Now then… let's shop."

**X X X**

Taking the shuttle would have been that much easier, and quicker. But since Reapers were within eyesight in the horizon, Shepard and the others dealt with the long drive.

Finally, they stopped. Two Makos. Shepard and the others stepped out respectively as he waved for the drivers to leave them.

"Damn it," Miranda said. "He's here. Look at the guards."

Shepard glanced, actually seeing some of Alex's work was unsettling. One guard was slammed into a wall, his head was completely splattered all over the floor. Two more, one ripped apart by bullets, the last had his neck snapped.

"Commander," Javik said. "A trail of blood. He is injured."

Miranda shook her head. "No, not injured, not likely. He's been using his abilities, a lot of them, if he's leaving blood behind."

"That's a good thing, right?" Jessie asked. "I thought him using his abilities made him weaker?"

"Let's not forget that we're dealing with a person who literally pulled a starship out of the sky and threw it into a turian military base," Garrus said. "Weak or not, this guy is scary, and he's about to have at it with the biggest drug buffet on the planet."

"Garrus is right," Shepard nodded. "We're not new to this. Let's split up. Three teams: front entrance, east, and west. We block his exits and beat him to the achillea supplies."

"Who do you want leading the teams?" Kaidan asked.

"Garrus, I want you to take Tali, EDI, and James. Kaidan, you're going to take Liara and Jessie. Miranda and Javik, you're with me."

Everyone nodded in understanding, taking different routes as instructed.

Javik took point, careful to open the front door, checking his left corner, right corner, then aiming forward. "All clear, commander."

Shepard and Miranda stepped through. It was still fully lit, but a messy collection of papers, chairs, and filing cabinets in the hallways…

And bodies.

"Alex, again?" John asked.

"Unlikely," Javik said. "Look. Scratch marks, bites, unorganized cuts and slashes. Reapers did this."

"Great, now we've got two things to look out for," Miranda sighed. "I shouldn't have gone to him."

"What are you talking about, Miranda?" the commander asked as they slowly paced down the hallway, checking corners and rooms but uncovering nothing.

"Before we met back up on the Citadel, I tracked Alex down. I thought he knew where my sister was. He knows, but he thinks it's cute to dangle information like that in front of me. I keep thinking: Maybe if I didn't track him down, he might not have done this."

"The only thing that would have happened would've been him coming here with no one to stop him," John said, trying to comfort her. "Plus, we wouldn't have met up when we did."

"I suppose that's true; almost being blown up in an apartment complex isn't my idea of a romantic reunion, but I didn't pick it."

John just smiled.

"So. Prothean, I hear?" Miranda asked Javik.

"Yes," he replied. "The very last."

"Any tips on taking down someone like this?"

"Kill him, and do it before he kills you."

"I figured as much," she shrugged.

As they continued, a familiar figure watched on the floor above, hidden in the shadows as he tapped into his comm.

"Leng here," he said quietly. "Shepard and his team are here. Miranda is with them."

The Illusive Man came through. "I see. What about Alex?"

"He's here. I haven't found him yet, but he killed the guards out in front."

"Find him. Kill Shepard and the others. I want Alex alive."

"Understood."

**X X X**

Garrus was used to leading teams through harsh conditions. But dead silence, he never got used to that. Luckily he had a quarian genius, a marine who could probably move a mountain if he so willed it, and a fully self-aware AI with him.

He leaned into a corner, James taking the opposite. They checked their sides, nodding, and then taking point into the next room. Lights flickering, but electronics functioning; several terminals were still online.

"Looks like we just have a bad lightshow," Garrus said, looking to Tali and EDI. "See if you two can find anything on the antibiotics we're looking for."

Within seconds, EDI found something. "There are several deposits of achillea millefolium located through this facility. However, the highest concentration is on the eastern wing with Major Alenko's team."

"Well, that's just great," James rolled his eyes. "Guess we should- Hey wait!"

James raised his rifle to the dark figure in the doorway.

"Oops, this isn't the bathroom."

Garrus raised his rifle, not hesitating to fire. No doubt that was Alex, and he found them.

Everyone else fired, only stopping seconds after realizing the bullets weren't hitting. In fact, they weren't even coming close to him.

His right hand was open, holding the bullets in suspension. "Lucky for you, I'm a little too tired to play tennis," he said as he dropped his hand, the bullets clicking to the floor. "You'll just have to take a rain check."

"Fuck that!" James yelled as he charged, pulling a combat knife from his side.

Alex just smirked, bringing his hands apart, then bringing them together in a clap as the doors slammed shut before the marine could get to him. He spun his index finger clockwise, twisting the metal, ensuring it wouldn't open no matter how hard they tried.

James rammed the door, causing no damage. He kicked, and kicked, ramming the door again, but nothing. "How the- How did he do that? Is he telekinetic or some shit?"

"It's his biotics," Tali said. "He's locked us in."

"It's nothing personal!" Alex said as he walked over to the window of the room. "You see, I could kill you all right now. Quite easily, actually. But," he pointed to his eyes, now in a better light. They were red. His left one had blood dripping from the side, his ears had dried and crusted blood coming from inside. "As you can see, I'm a _little_ under the weather at the moment. Asari, turian, and human DNA. A gift and a curse!"

"We're fighting the Reapers, and you're here to steal medical drugs that will help your own kind?" Garrus growled. "If you do this, you'll cripple the Alliance! The Reapers will take Earth!"

"Hahah! Please, I've pulled starships from orbit and sent them CRASHING into the earth below! If anyone can destroy the Reapers, it's me. But why should I stop there? There's so much power, so much potential. I want it all, and I'll have it," he smiled, blood dripping from his nose made him only that much more terrifying in appearance.

"Remember me: History will write that Alexander Viers enslaved the Reapers, and ruled the galaxy with immortality and the powers of God himself! I am Alexander the Great, reincarnated!"

They blinked, and Alex was gone. Now, they were trapped. Garrus smashed the window with his rifle, but it barely registered a dent.

"Damn it!" he grunted. "Shepard, you read me?"

**X X X**

"What's going on, Garrus?" Shepard said as they took cover in a room, as to not be exposed in case they ran into trouble.

"We ran into Alex, he locked us in a room over on the west wing. EDI ran a scan, you're going to want to head east to where Kaidan and the others are. That's where the achillea millefolium is located."

"I'm coming now, we'll get you out of there."

"We're fine, Shepard, but Alex isn't. He's bleeding through his eyes and ears right now. If he can stop bullets like this, you DON'T want him getting his energy back."

Shepard gritted his teeth; he hated leaving people behind. But it didn't sound like they were injured, so he motioned for Javik and Miranda to move and catch up to Kaidan's team.

**X X X**

Kaidan stepped in, Liara on his left and Jessie on his right. Flashlights on; this entire area was pitch black.

"Cages," Kaidan whispered. "Animal experiments?"

"This is sick," Jessie said. "But not surprising."

"The blood on these cages looks dry. Whatever animals were in here must have escaped when the Reapers first attacked," Liara observed.

"Yeah. No signs of wild animals so far, so I think we're safe," Kaidan replied.

"Actually, outside might be safer."

Their weapons and lights drew to a corner. There stood Alex, though he wasn't even paying any attention to them; he was ruffling through a shelf.

"Hands up, Alex!" Kaidan. "Stop whatever you're doing or I'll drop you."

Alex just shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, man, I'm doing you a favor. My friends are pretty hungry, you know."

Kaidan and the others heard a low, snarling growl behind them. Their rifles turned.

A tiger.

Two tigers. Starved, bloody, filthy, mouths watering as their meals practically walked in for them.

"Ah, who am I kidding, there's no food here. They never feed these things for long! I just wanted to lure you guys in here!" he chuckled. "I would've figured a C-Sec officer, a Spectre, and the god damn Shadow Broker would've seen that you're playing my game."

Kaidan turned back to Alex, firing, but he was gone. He was in front of him, elbow thrusting the rifle out of his hands, then swinging a roundhouse into side, throwing him into a pile of empty cages, rattling and having them collapse on him.

"Sorry, ladies, I'm not their type!" he cheered as he flipped over them, rolling off of one of the tigers, then somersaulting out of the door.

Liara threw a Pull at him. Alex raised his left hand, stopping it in its tracks. He shouted, throwing it back as it threw the asari onto a table top.

"Y'all have fun, now!" he said as he sealed the door with a flick of his wrist.

The tigers, glanced at the door, now to Jessie.

She looked to her left. Kaidan was trapped under the cages, and Liara was out cold from the attack she just took.

"Oh, crap."

**End Chapter 7**

**So now Cerberus is back in the picture! Kind of. Wonder what's going to happen with Jessie and the tigers, Alex, and all that. The anticipation is killing me. Me! And I'm writing the damn thing! I'm stoked for the next chapter, I think you guys will dig it. Keep them reviews coming!**


	8. The Pot of Gold

**No introduction necessary. Let's get it!**

**Chapter 8 – The Pot of Gold (Alex vs. Kai Leng vs. Everyone)**

Alex dropped to his knees after shutting the door and sealing the tigers inside. He gripped his head, feeling like it was going to split open.

"No. No, no, no, no, no. Not yet. Not yet, not- I'm so close. I'm so… god damn it, this hurts!" he laughed, wincing in pain still.

He wiped the blood from his eyes; his left eye was beginning to blur. If he didn't find what he needed soon, he was going to get worse.

"There we go," he said, standing up, rotating his neck. "Let's find us some drugs."

**X X X**

Jessie slowly backed up from the tigers, slowly stepping towards her. She glanced around her surroundings. She could take out one tiger, but when she shoots, both will attack. What's she going to do with the second one?

She saw an open cage she could fit in to her left. She had to chance it.

"Am I really going to do this?" she asked herself.

_**Bangbangbangbangbang**_

"Yep!" she yelled as she rolled out of the way of the second tiger, the first one dropping dead to the floor. She dropped her rifle, but she had no time to recover it; it was either grab it and get eaten, or roll to the left and get into the cage.

She rolled into the cage, slamming it shut as the tiger roared, pressing its paws onto the steel bars. Jessie was crammed, uncomfortable, but safe. For now.

Then, the tiger fell over, dead.

"What the?" she said out loud. Another figure stood close by with a smoking pistol holstering itself. The figure walked over to Liara, and finally spoke.

"Hey! Wake the fuck up!"

Liara, after several slaps, woke up with an irritated expression on her face to someone she wasn't expecting to see.

"Jack?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's me. The hell happened to you?" she looked back to the pile of cages. "What about wonder boy over there?"

"I don't know," she rubbed her head. "Jack, what are you doing here?"

"Anderson told me you've got a problem, and you might need some backup. I was on call, anyway. No big deal," she smirked. "Apparently you're dealing with someone even crazier than fucking Harbinger himself."

"You could say that," she replied, standing up, watching Jessie crawl out of the cage to her feet.

"Thanks… Jack?"

"Yeah, don't mention it. Who are you?"

"Jessie Massani, C-"

"W-Wait, what? Massani? Like Zaeed Massani? That fucker got laid?"

"I… need… some help!" Kaidan muffled under the cages.

**X X X**

They were careful as they moved to the east wing, but quick. If what Garrus said was true, Alex already had a head start on them.

"EDI, can you give us a route to the concentration site?"

"Yes, but it will take time; the FDA's terminals are heavily encrypted."

"Do it," he said. "Keep me posted."

They stopped suddenly; a distant explosion hit their ears, followed by a small bout of gunfire and crushing of metal. Someone was fighting, with biotics. It had to be Alex.

"That's Alex," Miranda said. "There's no doubt. Come on!"

Not concerning with traps or safety since their target was just within earshot, they bolted down to the left, following another hallway. Turning right, they came to a recreational center.

This had to be it. There were marks of battle everywhere.

"Where is he?" Javik asked.

"This was it. This HAS to be it!" Miranda grunted. "There's markings everywhere- he was JUST here!"

They continued to search the area, unbeknownst to them that he was long gone.

Unconscious, and subdued by Kai Leng.

"I have him," he said.

"Good. He has information I need before we take him back. Get it out of him… don't be gentle."

"Yes, sir."

**X X X**

Alex woke up, fully self-aware, but tied up. Where was he?

"What did I- Ohhh, hey!" he said as Leng developed to him after opening his eyes. "Well, lookie here. I haven't seen you since… I don't remember! Hah!"

"I should kill you now," Leng glared. "But you have information the Illusive Man wants. Afterwards, you'll be coming back with me."

"Oh, I don't think so," Alex smirked, flicking his wrists.

But nothing happened.

"What the- What did you do?"

"I made you normal, the one thing you can never be on your own. The drugs will last as long as I desire. That IV bag is full, and there's a cooler behind you that are packed with more. Now then," he said, pulling his sword out. "Let's talk."

"Ah, yes! Talking with swords! This is my favorite part," he chuckled. "But really, when I get out of this, I'm going to kill you. Then I'm going to kill all the little bastards following me! Then! Then… I'll pay the Illusive Man a little visit. Maybe when I'm done, I'll kill all the Reapers!"

"That'll never happen," he said, putting the cold steel to Alex's throat, gently gliding it across. "You still think you're in control."

"I AM control!" he growled. "I became something greater, something you wish you could be. You get your ass kicked every other mission and the Illusive Man patches you up with fancy Reaper tech," he smiled. "But I was homegrown."

"I'm impressed you haven't aged all this time. What are you now? 60? 65?"

"67 going on 30!" he cheered. "Isn't it amazing? Asari DNA is holding my youth, granting me powers beyond your wildest imagination! I've been in my prime ever since I broke out and killed that research staff during the war, and-"

"Which won't last long. I've seen you fighting earlier. You're sloppy, using powers freely without knowledge of consequences," Leng lectured. "You need antibiotics. They're here… but what if I could get you something better?"

"Better?" he scoffed, then laughed. "What could be better than something more precious to my body than water?"

Kai Leng pulled a list out from his pocket. He unfolded it, showing the formula to Alex. As expected, his eyes shot open with surprise.

"How did you-"

"All you had to do was follow orders. The Illusive Man rewards loyalty."

"Hahahaha! How many dicks did you have to suck to get your position, Leng? I was top-tier from the start! Now… why don't you hand me that list so I can give you a painless death?"

The Cerberus operative was enjoying this. "No."

"Give me the list," Alex ordered, clear agitation showing. No more jokes or giggles, he was legitimately becoming angry.

"You will tell me what I want to know, or I'll tear this list up."

"Damn it, give me that list so I can SINK MY TEETH IN!" he screamed. "GIVE IT TO ME!"

He knew this was going nowhere. Leng reached behind him, pulling a long syringe out and began walking towards Alex. He ended up behind him.

"You won't talk, so I won't force you. I have a different idea."

"Yeah? What sort of fun and games do you have planned?" Alex scoffed.

"I'm going to take a sample of your spinal fluid," he smirked, putting his mouth next to his ear. "And it's going to hurt."

The long needle rammed into his back. Alex yelped, but the warm sensation was surprisingly not as harmful as he thought.

"Come on," Alex chuckled. "Are you even trying? I'm falling asleep over here!"

"I have all I need," Kai said, removing the syringe from Alex's back. "The information the Illusive Man wants from you won't happen. But I can deliver him your DNA strands. We'll replicate this, make it better. You'll become obsolete."

"Will I?" Alex smiled. "Tell me, how long do you think this bag can stay full?"

Leng looked at the bag. He had had Alex tied up for hours. The only way nothing could have drained would be…

Alex's hands opened, the restraints flipped off of him. He was on his feet a second later, face to face with his former comrade. "You were so busy gloating over yourself, swallowing my shit, you didn't even notice me turning the IV off," his smile widened, eyes in full contact. "Now then. Let's have some fun, Kai Leng. For old time's sake."

**X X X**

"Kaidan, you guys okay?" Shepard chimed in.

"Yeah, we're good," he said. "Had a bit of a run in with some tigers and Alex. What's your loca- Oh, wait, I see you."

Kaidan waved over to the commander as the groups joined up. Shepard's eyes widened when he saw who was with them.

"Jack? What are you doing here?"

Jack crossed her arms. "I guess since King of the Boy Scouts couldn't cut it, Admiral Anderson told me to- What the FUCK are you doing here, cheerleader?"

"Oh, goddess, not this again," Liara buried her face in her hand.

"How wonderful it is to see you, Jack," Miranda rolled her eyes. "I didn't realize we would be handling two insane biotics."

"Yeah, bitch? You wanna-"

Mid-sentence, the wall next to them exploded, Kai Leng's body shot through the wall, crashing through the next one, then the next one, finally his throw being broken by a wall of lockers, which collapsed on him.

The dust cleared, and Alex stood there. Well, jumped, like a boxer in a ring.

"Damn, it feels good to stretch my legs!" he looked at everyone, now looking at him. He stopped jumping, awkwardly glancing at everyone. "Oh. I wasn't expecting this."

"Alex!" Miranda called. "Where's Oriana?"

"Gotta go!" he waved, pulling his hands down to collapse debris in front of him to cover his exit.

"That's Alex?" Jack asked. "He's a little bitch!"

"'Little bitch' wouldn't be the term I'd use for someone who just threw an assassin through several walls of concrete," Jessie shrugged.

Jack blew the debris apart. "Well, let's go get him!"

"Wait!" Shepard said. "What about Kai Leng?"

"Leave his ass! He's Cerberus," she scoffed. "I'm going after the real prize here. Who's with me?"

"Jack, we can't fight this guy one-on-one. We have to stick together!" the commander reasoned.

Her fists were balled separately; she was ready to go get him. But Shepard had a point. Could she take him? Maybe, but why risk it?

Imagine her, not taking risks.

"Fuck!" she grunted.

Their weapons turned to Kai Leng, ripped up armor and messy hair emerging from where he was thrown. He dropped his sword, hands in the air.

"She's right," he said. "You won't catch him dealing with me."

"Shut up, pussy," Jack spat.

"I drugged Alex and tied him up," he began. "But he must have had enough strength left to turn the IV switch off. When the drugs wore off, he broke free and we fought. He's weak right now."

"Obviously can't be that weak if he threw you through a bunch of walls," Kaidan said.

"That's my point. That attack took a lot out of him."

"So what should we do with you, huh?" Jessie said, rifle pointed straight to him. "Bullet to the head work? Or how about I stick you like a filet, like you did my father?"

"Jessie, calm down," Shepard said, hand on her rifle. "Your father is alive. Alex is the real threat right now, don't forget."

"He's a high ranking Cerberus operative! He almost killed my father while trying to kill the Council, and-"

"He killed a close friend of mine, too, Jessie. But we gotta do this one step at a time."

"I don't care if you hate me," Leng said. "After this mission, I plan on killing every single one of you if you get in the way of Cerberus again. But for now, Alex poses a threat to all of us. He's not in this for anyone but himself. And I'm the only one who can go toe to toe with him so he can weaken himself."

"A fine job you did," Javik said.

"I can't believe I'm about to do this," Shepard said, cursing himself. "Fine. We'll do this your way. But if you so much as try ANYTHING…"

A pistol clicking behind Leng's head took him by surprise.

"Don't worry," Garrus said with James, Tali, and EDI to his side with their weapons drawn on him. "I don't think he's _that _stupid."

**X X X**

"Seriously, that guy just raised his hand and stopped the bullets," James said to the others. "How can you fight something like that?"

"You don't," Kai said, in between everyone. "I do."

"You had your turn, bub," Jack said. "You blew it, so now we gotta work together. Or you could stay the fuck out of it and just let us clean up the mess."

"What I don't understand is what Cerberus wants with someone like Alex. I thought you said the Illusive Man put out a hit on him, Miranda?" Kaidan asked.

"Alex was unstable. If we needed to fight or destroy something, he was the first one he called. But operatives of that caliber had a certain level of reconnaissance required. He's former N7, so he seemed ideal. At least until he would come back about to fall apart from using his abilities to kill everyone he ran into."

"That's not what happened, and you know it," Leng interrupted. "He never had any interest in furthering humanity's goals. All he saw was being paid to kill, he's worse than the Reapers; at least they have a purpose."

"You've done very little to further humanity's interests," Shepard replied.

"I don't expect you to understand," the operative scowled.

They ventured further, coming into a cafeteria that was cleared out. Tables, trays, everything gone, except a small orange bottle that laid on the floor.

Shepard walked up to it, kneeling down to pick it up.

"Achillea millefolium," he said out loud. "It's empty."

Leng pulled his sword out, everyone else drawing their weapons. "He's here. Damn it, another trap!" he growled.

The lights went out. Pitch black, weapons raised.

It really was a trap.

_**Clap, clap**_

The lights came back on, and Alex stood there in the center of the room. Arms crossed, no blood seeping from him.

"Kai! Props to you for surviving that little push I gave you. I wasn't sure you'd make it out from that. Now look at you… you're helping the Alliance."

"I'm not helping anyone of these freaks," his sword pointed to him. "I just want you dead. The Illusive Man will just have to settle for your DNA!"

"DNA?" Miranda turned to him. "You're trying to reproduce someone like him? Are you insane?"

"Insane! That is the word of the day!" Alex cheered. "But I have all I need. I'm all charged up, and I think it's time I really got my heart pumping."

Everyone's weapons drew on him.

"Haha! Guns?" his smile grew into a psychotic grin. His voice, now becoming deeper and demonic as he roared.

"**WHAT DO YOU THINK GUNS WILL DO AGAINST GOD HIMSELF?**"

In a flash, he was in the middle of the group. Insane speed, uppercutting Kai Leng, grabbing his arm and throwing him into the wall next to them. He raised his fingers, spinning himself once, throwing everyone off balance and to the floor with a violent gust of wind.

Javik was up first, firing at Alex, who literally phased from the bullets as they flew to him. The prothean had no time to react as the veteran drove a knee into his stomach, then spinning and tossing him across the room.

Garrus came up behind him, ramming his rifle down to smash the back of his head in. Alex swung behind him, ripping the rifle away from the turian and smacking him across the face with it as he dropped to the ground.

"You won't kill me, Miranda!" Alex cackled, swinging a hard kick into James' chin as he tried to get up, flipping him completely over onto his back as he laid still. "You would never allow it! I'm the only one who knows EXACTLY where Oriana is besides the Illusive Man and your father!"

He phased in front of Kaidan, elbowing him in the chest and sending him flying back, then swinging counterclockwise with his left hand as it made contact with Tali's shoulder, knocking her back down.

EDI fired at him, but Alex stopped the bullets before they came close enough. With the wave of his hand, he sent the AI flying next to Garrus in a hard crash.

Leng came bursting out of the rubble he was buried in, sword drawn as he swung down at Alex. Easily dodged, he grabbed his wrist, pulling it down as the operative felt the pressure on his wrist tendons.

"You should know, _nothing_ stops me from getting what I want," Alex smirked.

"You… must… die," Leng grunted, struggling to get away from his grip.

He twirled the operative's wrist, resulting in his body spinning. In a fluid motion, he tossed him above him, dropping to his back and kicking Leng into the floor above them with a violent crash.

And just as he jumped up from his back, he was knocked off balance from the left.

Barely able to stop himself from being pushed into a long rebar cable, he braced himself as he faced Jack down in a showdown of Push vs. Push. Both hands; he was impressed.

"This is surprisingly stimulating!" he smiled. "Yes, yes! I haven't had to actually push myself in so long!"

"Shut up and die," Jack said, throwing in a large amount of her biotics into a wave of energy. Alex flew back, crashing through the wall behind him.

She panted; that took way more out of her than she thought. She looked at Miranda, barely getting up.

"That… is how it's done… cheerleader."

Alex came bursting out just seconds later, too fast for Jack to react; he grabbed her by the head with his hand.

"You're strong. Very strong. I can't have that… it's too dangerous," he closed his eyes, opening them again, black, like the asari. "Embrace eternity!"

His eyes lost color and Jack fell to the floor, eyes rolling back behind her head.

"Jack!" Shepard called as he pulled himself out of the rubble from where he landed.

Alex turned to the commander, eyes bleeding and face slowly losing color from the amount of exertion being used from his abilities.

He moved his feet, but he was frozen in place. Liara had put him in stasis just in time.

"Shepard, do it!" she cried, clearly struggling to hold him.

"You really think you can hold me?" Alex scowled. "Do you think any of you can?"

Shepard fired, but Alex broke free just as the bullets shot past him. He was in front of the commander now, four punches to the chest, followed by a knee, then a sweep of the feet that knocked him over. He phased behind Liara, driving an elbow into her back, phasing in front of her again and delivering a roundhouse to her face, sending her crashing into the ground next to Kaidan.

Kai Leng's projectile came firing through the ceiling he was shot into just moments ago. Alex barely saw it in time to stop it with his right hand raised.

Miranda saw an opportunity and launched a Slam against him, raising Alex up into the air, just an inch below the ceiling.

"What are you gonna do, Miranda?" Alex looked to her. "Are you going to drop me onto Leng's little surprise bomb? You could, and you'd kill me. But you'd never find Oriana."

"I've been doing fine without you," she growled. "I'll be doing the galaxy a favor by putting you down!"

"And you'll be benefitting your sister how?" he smirked. "You should know by now that every place you've looked is wrong."

"He doesn't know where Oriana is," Leng said as he jumped down from the ceiling, holding his projectile in place, bloodied and bruised from the fight. "Miranda, just this once, we need to kill him. _I_ know where Oriana is, or where she's going to be. You've known Alex as long as I have; he's lying through his teeth!"

"_Lying through his teeth._ Please! He's Cerberus," Alex shrugged. "Can you trust him? Look at what they did to me? Look at what they did to YOU! And Shepard, Jacob, everyone! If I'm dead, I can't tell you where she is!"

"Then you better talk," she said. "I'm not playing games, Alex. Tell me where my sister is before I drop you onto that explosive!"

The sound of shifting rock put Miranda away from her focus for just a hair of a second. It was just the hair of a second that Alex needed, throwing his hand free to her, tossing the former operative onto a jagged piece of concrete.

Alex kept his hand raised to Leng's attack, keeping it in suspension as he glanced to Jessie, who was the one who got up and distracted Miranda, albeit completely unintentional.

"Well, well, well," Alex said. "Looks like you missed the party. Don't worry, I'll catch you up," he smirked, raising his left hand, index and middle finger extended, preparing to flick his wrist and give her a quick death with a broken neck.

Then he heard the cocking of a pistol. He turned just in time as Kaidan fired. Four, five, six shots. All caught in suspension.

"I hate heroes," he said, closing his hand, then opening it as the bullets reversed in direction, all hitting Kaidan as it knocked him back, hard onto the floor; blood quickly forming a pool around his body.

"Kaidan!" she yelled.

Leng saw the opportunity and fired another projectile. Alex couldn't react in time, and the two explosives went off after colliding, right in the center of the room as the ceiling collapsed on top of them.

**X X X**

The entire building collapsed without them realizing it. Surprisingly, from what Shepard could see, no one was injured from the blast. He looked to his right; Miranda was sore, and leaned against a large rock of concrete, but fine. He helped her up as he glanced around to the others.

Jack was still limp on the ground, but Liara was tending to her. His eyes shifted to Kaidan, then realized he wasn't moving.

"Kaidan!" he yelled, rushing to his side. "What happened?"

"He took six of his own bullets," Garrus said, already knelt at his side. "Tried to take Alex out, he flipped them back to him."

"Joker, we need evac, do you read?" he chimed in.

"Finally!" he cut in. "Was wondering what happened to you guys. LZ is gonna be hot, Reapers are everywhere! ETA two minutes."

"Make sure Dr. Chakwas is ready, Kaidan's been shot."

"Aye, aye, commander."

"Shepard, look!" James pointed just ahead of them.

He couldn't believe it. There was no way this was happening.

Alex was alive.

Worse, he was holding a limp Kai Leng by the collar.

The N7 tossed the operative close to Shepard. "You see what happens when you try to stop me?" he smirked. "You can't!" he pointed, first to Leng, then to Kaidan, then to Jack. "Look what you did, Shepard."

He took a step towards them, but stopped. His head was spinning. A second later, his left eye went black, and he felt onto a knee.

Blood was slowly seeping from under his fingernails. His ears filled with blood, even dripping, he could barely hear normally at this point. He was weak, and it hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Damn it," he cursed. "I used… too much, keeping that explosion off of me. And I guess everything else."

He glanced as everyone else began to rise back up, taking aim at him. Two less, but at this point, he couldn't fight them like he was earlier.

"Next time, I won't take it easy on you," he spat.

"It's over, Alex," Shepard said. "You know it."

"Over? Hah! No, nothing is over," he reached into his pocket, revealing a chemical branch formula; the very same one Kai Leng was waving in front of him earlier. "We're just getting started."

"What is that?" Garrus asked.

"My pot of gold at the end of the rainbow," Alex replied. "I'll see you all _real_ soon."

Then, as if things couldn't get any stranger, he did the one thing they never expected.

He flew.

Launching up in the air at speeds matching most ships, he stopped in the air, then changing direction as he left a trail of cloud behind him, disappearing from sight in seconds.

"What- what the. Did that puto just fly?" James asked in complete shock. "He can fly? What else can this guy do?"

"He couldn't do that when I last saw him," Miranda said. "I don't like this."

"Guys! Humans. Can't. Fly. Asari can't fly! How the fuck does this guy fly?" James wasn't going to let this go. Sure, he had seen some stuff like that on movies and television shows. But in person? No way.

"Coming in hot, commander!" Joker said. "Reapers are on my tail. You gotta get in here and- Whoa, what the hell was- Commander, I think I just saw a person fly past me!"

"That's Alex, apparently, he can fly."

"Of course he can fly!" Joker said. " What else is new? Coming in now."

**X X X**

The Normandy was down and out before they knew it. Kai Leng disappeared while they were loading up, as they figured.

Here they were, leaving Earth. Again. It had gotten so much worse since he left. Shepard just glanced out the window from the cockpit as they gradually exited the atmosphere. To his surprise, Reapers didn't follow them. It's almost as if they were too busy on something else.

Like harvesting every human still alive.

He went to the medical bay to check on Kaidan. Lucky for him, the bullets all went clean through, no vital organs hit. He would just need some time to rest and recover.

The doors swung open, Kaidan laid there, sleeping, but strong vitals. Jessie was sitting at his bedside.

"How is he?" he asked.

"He's lucky. The bullets all went through, no fragments, no vital organs hit," she smiled. "Now I owe him twice."

"What do you mean?"

She frowned, glancing down at the floor as she remembered the face of death itself staring at her just hours ago. "Alex was about to snap my neck with his fingers. Kaidan jumped in at the last second and fired at him. If he didn't do that… he saved my father's life, now mine. I owe him."

"Kaidan's a good man," John confirmed. "Don't blame yourself for what happened."

"Alex said some pretty rough things about Miranda's sister. Is she okay? I know you guys were... are involved."

Shepard crossed his arms. "She'll be okay. She just needs to sleep on it."

He left a few minutes later, checking into the next room. Dr. Chakwas was finishing up a medical chart while Jack laced her boots up, clearly back to normal considering her mind was just attacked hours ago.

"Jack, you're okay," he was surprised.

"Yeah. Liara did whatever Alex did, the whole embracing eternity thing… just in reverse," she shrugged. "It felt like a couple of seconds passed by."

"Do you remember anything?"

"Only that teaching kids biotics made me soft. I could've taken him, Shepard," she frowned. "I can't believe we actually worked with Kai Leng."

"Believe me, I don't feel good about it, either," he sighed. "What a day, huh?"

"No shit."

**X X X**

Shepard stepped into the forward battery chamber, seeing Garrus working. Maybe not to get something done, but just to get his mind off of things.

"Garrus," he said.

"Hm? Oh hey, Shepard. Sorry, I'm just trying to keep my mind occupied right now."

"Alex didn't punch a hole in your ego, did he?" he smirked.

"Ha. No, I've had my tail handed to me plenty of times on a mission… though it was a little scary watching someone almost effortlessly dismantle all of us single-handedly. Then to top that all off, he flies away. I'm just trying not to stay worried about my dad and my sister, mostly."

"Did you hear anything from them lately?"

"It's been a couple of days. My sister broke her leg when they were escaping, but my dad was able to keep them going," he sighed. "I just hate leaving everyone behind."

"We left Earth," Shepard said. "Then went back, then left again. Trust me, I know how you feel."

"Yeah… you're right. Sorry. I keep forgetting everyone's really feeling it," he paused, then remembered what he was going to say. "Hey, is it true Thane's going to be okay? And that he's a Spectre now?"

"The Council recently found out about a bunch of cures for terminal illnesses. Kepral's Syndrome has been cured for almost a hundred years-"

"But it's so much easier to make money off treatment," Garrus finished. "I hate corporations sometimes."

**X X X**

"You've gotta be kidding me," Joker said to EDI as the commander made his way back to the cockpit. "So not only can this guy fly, but he can stop bullets with his mind, then throw you with a flick of a hand?"

"There is nothing humorous about Alex's unnatural abilities, though they're all true."

"Geez, glad I'm up here. I'm glad you're okay, though. Seriously, don't die."

Shepard just let them talk, turning away as he went to go report to Hackett.

This was going to be interesting.

**X X X**

"Am I reading this correctly, commander? Alex Viers is not only alive, but he's bonded with asari DNA, bested your entire team in a fight along with Kai Leng, then flew, flew away?"

"It's just as hard to believe as it is with me, sir," he replied. "I don't like to admit it, but I can't sugarcoat it: We had no chance against him."

"The list keeps growing, it seems," the admiral replied. "I don't want to say we avoid him for now; Lieutenant Viers was a decorated marine decades ago, powers or not, he's a dangerous adversary. But our focus is finishing the crucible. Treat him like Cerberus, for now."

"Aye, aye, sir."

"Something else to report, commander?"

"No, sir."

"Keep me posted. Hackett out."

**X X X**

Hours after, well, whatever that fight with Alex was, he finally walked back into his cabin. Miranda was sitting in his chair, but it didn't seem like she noticed he was there yet.

"I can't believe you still have this picture," she said.

Never mind, she knew.

"What? You gave it to me," Shepard sheepishly said as he approached her from behind, wrapping his arms around her neck as he laid his head on hers.

"This is true. Though I suppose I'm just not used to, well, you know… us, still. I didn't think we'd ever pick back up, though, I am glad we did."

"We're going to find Oriana."

She sighed. "Knew that one was coming…"

"Miranda."

She stood, taking her hands and moving his off of her as she walked up to the fish tank. "I shouldn't be here. I should be out, searching for her. Every minute I spend eating, sleeping, relaxing here, she's in danger."

"From your father? I thought he just wanted to possess her."

"My father is not who I'm worried about. Though I am, he only wants to keep her close. The Illusive Man may use that against me, and god forbid if Alex really knows where she is."

She stood there, thinking to herself. John stepped behind her, bringing her into his embrace. His head laid on top of hers as they gazed into the fish tank together.

"It's going to be okay," he said.

"I know. I believe you," she smiled. "Or at least I want to believe you."

The night went as smoothly as it could be. Over the next couple of hours until they went to bed, they talked, sat quietly, made love, and then prepared for their main focus of the next mission.

Retaking Rannoch.

**End Chapter 8**

**So yeah, this was kind of a long chapter. Oops. No big, I sorta just write them until I feel like they're finished. For those who celebrate it, Thanksgiving is tomorrow! So Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates. I'm off to bed so I can wake up tomorrow and stuff my face and gain 50lbs overnight. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, more coming soon!**

**PS - Alex is not going to stay this OP'd if you were wondering. Trust me, he's got TONS of weaknesses. You'll see later on.**


	9. Home

**Hi, guys. Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving (if this applies to you). It kind of got me thinking, since I'll likely be writing this story well into December and so on and so forth, that I'll try and tie certain holidays into the story as they fall in place. I'm not sure how long this story will be, but I see it going at least into 2014 if things go according to plan. Gotta have dat filler. **

**One person asked me about Jessie, what she sounds like and if she sounds anything like Zaeed. You know, with his accent and all. To answer that question: Whenever I imagine Jessie talking, I don't imagine the English accent with it. I just picture an accent somewhere around what Lily from The Walking Dead video game sounds like. I'm not sure how I came to that…**

**Anyway, onto the next chapter! Thanks for the support, everyone. This story is doing a lot better than I thought it would.**

**Chapter 9 – Home**

The elevator leading to the top floor on the Geth base on Rannoch finally came to a halt. Two points for cover. Shepard took cover to the right, while Garrus and Tali moved to the left.

"One Geth Prime," Tali whispered. "He's by himself. I don't think he knows we're he-"

_**BANG**_

The Prime's head exploded from the high-caliber shot from Garrus' sniper rifle, falling to the floor.

"That takes care of that," he said, cocking his rifle back to make room for the next round.

Tali just shook her head.

"This is Admiral Raan to all ships," the comm chimed in. "The Patrol Fleet has broken through the geth flank. Permission to pursue?"

"Granted," Gerrel replied. "Good hunting, Raan."

Seconds later, Legion made contact. "Shepard-Commander, we detect no more geth in your immediate area. Reinforcements are minutes away."

"You getting anything from the base?" he asked.

"No. The Old Machines have not registered us as a threat," he replied. "We recommend haste. The creator fleet will be overrun unless you severe geth connection from the Old Machines soon."

"This battle was centuries in the making," Tali began. "To see it finally end…"

"Shepard, what are we going to do about the geth once we disconnect them?" Garrus asked as they advanced forward, not taking their eyes off of anything in the event the geth decided to ambush them.

"First things first," he answered.

"Yeah. You're right."

It looked clear. Completely clear. Shepard took the opportunity and advanced forward with his quarian and turian companions behind him, covering the rear. There was a plateau just ahead of him, overlooking an open port.

This was the spot.

Shepard pulled out the targeting laser from the clip on his back. He took aim towards the bottom of the pit.

"Normandy's weapon systems are ready to sync to your target, Commander," EDI said from the ship into the radio.

The targeting laser began to pinpoint.

"I recommend you withdraw to a safe distance," she finished.

The dial went off. The weapon was locked in.

"Target locked," the AI declared, the Normandy roaring through the sky, dropping the hellfire from its bay as it made direct contact with its target.

But he didn't move in time, the shock of the explosion rocked Shepard back, knocking him off balance. He tried to grab onto the railing next to him, but he missed it as he fell.

He came down on a hard thud onto the metal floor. He took a second to recover, slowly picking himself up. Maybe the fall wasn't that bad, or his adrenaline was too great and he would need to see a chiropractor after the mission was over.

Then, the humming from an all too familiar being rang in his ears, followed by the raising of a massive claw from the pit as it towered over, clanking to the floor next to him.

"Reaper!" Shepard called.

As if on cue, Legion pulled in just a football field away with a geth vehicle of some type. "We have located transportation," he said.

"Copy that. Everyone get to the ship. Move!"

"Keelah, it's huge!" Tali said as she paced behind the commander.

"You ever do a mission with Javik? Every time we see a Reaper, it's always 'This is nothing!' or 'I remember this part!' I mean, really, who enjoys talking about this?" Garrus said back as he rolled away from a Reaper claw that came down next to him.

"How are we supposed to fight that thing?" the quarian replied.

A geth trooper dropped down, raising up as Shepard moved past it. Garrus swung a left hook, knocking the synthetic over as Tali finished it off with a bullet to the head, still in motion.

Shepard rushed up the tank, Garrus and Tali jumped inside the tank while the commander grabbed onto the main gun.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with this thing!" Shepard said. "But maybe I'll get lucky!"

"Oh, yeah, luck has _always_ been on our side!" Garrus said as the doors shut.

Legion punched in a couple of keys, and the tank rushed off. "We will attempt evasive maneuvers."

The tank rushed out of the base, Shepard pelting it with high caliber bullets that seemed to do virtually nothing but maybe scratch the paint off the Reaper. "Shepard to Fleet: It's not a Reaper base, it's a live Reaper! I need an orbital strike!"

Surprisingly, the Reaper just followed them. It only takes a few steps before it's right in front of them. The bullets just kept bouncing off.

"We're clear! Open fire!" he called.

Finally, a large pelt struck the Reaper, stunning it as the vehicle came to a halt. It stood, armor cracking, falling apart in certain areas, particularly, the large lens that glowed red once revealed; no doubt the Reaper's main attack.

"What did we hit?" Admiral Gerrel asked.

"The firing chamber. Looks like a weak point when it's priming," he observed.

"Damn it," he grunted. "The jamming towers have us targeting manually. We can't make a precision shot."

"We may be able to escape before it recovers," Legion suggested.

"No. Pull over," John ordered.

The vehicle pulled to the side as the commander jumped off of the gun.

"Shepard-Commander?"

"If we run away, the geth stay under Reaper control, and the quarians are dead," he said, glancing over to the Reaper. "This ends now."

He clicked onto his comm. "EDI, patch the quarians to the Normandy's weaponry system. I want the targeting laser synched up to the whole damn fleet!"

A few seconds of a pause, EDI complied. "Understood."

"Do you need assistance?" Legion asked.

"Just stay down, Legion. I'll take it from here."

Garrus opened the door and stepped out. "Shepard, wait!" he said. "What the hell are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm about to fight a Reaper," he smirked.

"Yeah, I get the whole crazy run and gun against things we probably shouldn't do by ourselves; hello, it's me you're talking to. What am I supposed to tell Miranda if-"

"Yeah… she won't like this," he shrugged. "Just stay here."

"Damn it, Shepard," his head shook.

**X X X**

The first two attacks on the Reaper wasn't too hard. Shepard had plenty of time to move away before the main laser struck him. It was so far away, but not now. The Reaper was so close with this attack he barely had time to register an attack.

Then to make matters worse, when he rolled away from its attack, he dropped the targeting laser.

He ran back, picking the laser up, only to barely roll away from the main laser as the explosion threw him into a wall.

He took aim with the targeting laser. Luckily for him, the main attack had to recharge.

The crosshairs lined up, just as the laser was priming to attack when…

_**Ding**_

The artillery strike hit, almost every shell struck the lens of the Reaper, staggering its balance as it struggled to remain upright.

Then, it fell. Shells still raining on it until they ceased. But by then, the Reaper had stopped moving completely.

John took the opportunity and approached the Reaper. Well, from the edge of the cliff, the Reaper appeared to be right next to him, even though it was still dozens of feet away.

Its lens rolled forward and its light turned red. "Shepard," it said, vibrating synthesized voice.

"You know who I am?"

"Harbinger speaks of you. You resist. But you will fail," matter-of-fact in his tone, he had done this countless times. To this Reaper, Shepard was just another thorn in the side. "The cycle must continue."

"And what if we don't _let_ you continue?"

"You have no choice," he replied.

"I disagree. So do the billions of races rising up against you."

"You cannot comprehend the magnitude of our presence."

Shepard walked to the edge of the cliff. "We might surprise you."

"Yeah, we're pretty good at surprises."

Shepard turned, knowing the tone of voice, pistol aimed right at where the head was-

"Alex?"

"Shepard!" he cheered, flicking his wrist and tossing the pistol out of his hand, over the cliff. "Do you greet everyone you know with a pistol aimed to the head?"

"Why are you here?" This was just great. A Reaper, and a guy who can break necks with a flick of the wrist and drag starships out of orbit. This was going to be an interesting conversation.

"Oh, you know… shopping."

Alex stepped over to Shepard, rolling his eyes. "I'm not here to fight you. I was actually on my way to kill this Reaper, but I guess you beat me to it!"

"You," the Reaper spoke up. "You are the other human Harbinger has been searching for."

"Am I?" he asked, crossing his arms as he glanced over to him.

"Another example to our reasoning. You organics represent chaos. We represent order," he bellowed. "Every organic civilization must be harvested in order to bring order to the chaos. It is inevitable. Even now, you prove our existence is required by simply being."

"Well, that's just rude," Alex scoffed, looking to Shepard. "I mean, what, does he think we're all crazy or something?"

"You don't exactly _help_ our case," Shepard glared.

"Without our intervention, organics are doomed. We are your salvation."

"Yeah, you see," Alex said, jumping far over the cliff and landing directly on top of the Reaper. "This time, I think the _organics_ are going to take control. I know, you've been doing this for _such_ a long time, but quite frankly, I don't give a damn!"

"A philosophy reminiscent of the quarians. Observe the results of their efforts to maintain control."

"This guy's getting annoying," Alex glanced to Shepard. "I think I'll shut him up."

"Alex, what are you doing?" Shepard yelled.

The N7 veteran raised his hands, ripping the armor off of the Reaper in a single moment. Again, with inner plating, then again for basic circuitry. His hands moved like a composer in an orchestra.

"You will change nothing," the Reaper said. "Whatever advantage you gain, we will trample. You will fail, like Shepard, and like those before him."

"I'm going to do more than gain an advantage!" Alex snickered. "**I WILL TAKE EVERYTHING THAT COMPRISES YOU, AND ENSLAVE IT. I WILL BECOME YOUR MASTER.**"

His hands turned blue, which never happened, telling Shepard he was about to do something extremely drastic. His hands burrowed into the Reaper itself, tearing through the armor like tissue paper, until he pulled out a long tray of advanced chips and circuits clearly beyond anything he had seen.

The Reaper short-circuited, attempting to recover from what was pulled from it. But it failed, its light in its lens flickered and died, along with the Reaper itself as it collapsed to the ground completely.

Shepard drew the targeting laser, aiming directly at Alex. The Reaper may have been dead, but he saw someone even worse in front of him now.

Alex took his focus from the panel he ripped from the Reaper and glared at Shepard with an insane look about his face, eyes turning black.

"**NOW. WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO DO THAT?**"

_**BANG!**_

Alex hit the cold metal top of the Reaper, hard on his back. Still.

Shepard looked back to see Garrus cocking his rifle back from the smoking barrel itself. "You okay, Shepard?"

"Garrus, you may have just saved the galaxy."

Alex hopped up to his feet, in a squatting stance, then standing. "Is that all you got, turian?"

"Maybe you should take a look at yourself!" Garrus smirked.

Alex checked his feet, they were fine. His right hand, fine.

"Oh… that's not good."

His left arm was completely shredded, off its limb, sitting in a pool of his own blood on top of the Reaper he had just killed.

"I'm… I'm… I'm disarmed!" he cackled, baffling Garrus and Shepard even further that he was taking humor in his disfigurement. "You, you, oh, boy, I'm dizzy."

Garrus aimed again. "Here, let me help."

Garrus jumped back as his rifle left his grip, literally. It flew into Alex's remaining hand. Holding the sniper with one hand, he aimed at the tank. Purposely missing Legion and Tali, now standing outside and firing at him, he put a bullet in their engine before throwing the rifle off of the Reaper.

"You've changed nothing!" he declared, picking up the Reaper tray, tucking his severed arm in between his belt and his pants.

His gaze focused on Shepard again, just as psychotic as ever.

"**SOON. EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING WILL BELONG TO ME.**"

Then just like that, he blasted off into the sky, gone in seconds.

"Damn it!" Shepard cursed. "We almost had him," he looked to Tali and Legion as they joined him. "Do you have any idea what he took from the Reaper?"

Legion shook his head. "Unknown. We possess little knowledge of the Old Machines' internal structure."

"He said something about becoming their master," Tali pointed out. "Didn't he tell Miranda that he planned to indoctrinate the Reapers himself?"

"Yeah," Shepard said, a light bulb going off in his head. "That data tray he pulled out of the Reaper may have something to do with how they indoctrinate organics."

"How would that even be possible?" Garrus wondered. "Alex might be crazy, but he's plenty organic. You saw all the blood he lost after I shot his arm off; there's no way an organic can indoctrinate a synthetic."

"I'm more concerned with the fact that he can literally pull the equivalent of a heart out of a Reaper at will," the commanded added in. "Legion, how's it look with the other geth?"

Legion's omni-tool flashed. "We can confirm that the geth are no longer being controlled by the Old Machines. We are free."

"You did it, Shepard!" Gerrel chimed in. "The geth fleet has stopped firing. They're completely vulnerable."

"Shepard-Commander," Legion said, tool powering down as he faced Tali and the commander. "The geth only acted in defense after the creators attacked. Do we deserve death?"

"What are you suggesting?" he asked.

"Our upgrades. With the Old Machine dead, we could them to all geth without sacrificing their independence."

"You want to upload the Reaper code? That would make the geth as smart as when the Reapers was controlling them!" Tali cried. It was like the nightmare was starting all over again for her.

"Yes," Legion confirmed. "But with free will. Each geth unit would be a true intelligence. We would be alive, and we could help you."

"Our fleet is already attacking!" Tali turned to Shepard. "Uploading the code would destroy us! Shepard, you can't choose the geth over my people!"

Legion examined the dead Reaper. "Do you remember the question that caused the creators to attack us, Tali'Zorah?" he turned back to them. "Does this unit have a soul?"

This wasn't an easy choice, but Shepard had to do what he could to keep both sides alive. He couldn't just pick one or the other. The quarians alone wouldn't be enough, and neither would the geth, as much as he hated to admit it.

He turned to Legion. "Upload the code to the geth. Tali, call off the fleet if you can."

Tali immediately got to work, while Legion brought up a sphere to begin uploading the code to the geth. "Uploading, ten percent."

"This is Admiral Tali'Zorah. All units break off your attack!"

Gerrel quickly cut her off. "Belay that order! Continue the attack!"

Tali walked over to Legion, still uploading with no chance of stopping. "Twenty percent."

"I beg you. Do not do this. Please."

"We regret the deaths of the creators, but we see no alternative. Forty percent."

This was about to get bad. Admiral Gerrel wasn't going to listen to his own people, all he wanted to do was destroy the geth. The only problem was that in the next minute, tops, the geth would be back to full power, and would effortlessly wipe out the quarians.

Time to see if he could improvise a speech that could save both races.

_-Here goes nothing.-_ he thought.

"No. Nobody else dies today. Legion, keep going."

He chimed in with his comm, hoping he could cut through the stubborn quarian admiral just this once.

"Shepard?" Tali asked, legitimate fear in her tone.

"All ships, this is Commander Shepard. The Reaper is dead. Stand down."

Tali picked up on what he was doing and activated her omni-tool. "This is Admiral Tali'Zorah. Shepard speaks with my authority."

"And mine as well!" Admiral Koris added on.

"Negative!" Gerrel said. "We can win this war now. Keep firing!"

"Sixty percent."

"The geth are about to return to full strength. If you keep attacking, they'll wipe you out!" Shepard replied. "Your entire history is you trying to kill the geth. You forced them to rebel; you forced them to ally with the Reapers."

"Eighty percent."

"The geth don't want to fight you. If you can believe that for just one, this war will be over! You have a choice. Please. Keelah se'lai."

There was a brief pause in radio before Admiral Gerrel came through. "All units. Hold fire."

Shepard smiled. Another war stopped, somehow due to his help.

Legion continued to work, suddenly stopping as the sphere dissimilated. "Error, copying code is insufficient. Direct personality dissemination required," he turned to the commander. "Shepard-Commander. I must go to them. I'm sorry, it's the only way."

"Legion…" Tali approached him, knowing this was it for him. "To answer your question… yes. The answer to your question is 'Yes'."

"I know, Tali. But thank you. Keelah se'lai."

The humming rang, then lowered, as the bulb in Legion's head shut off. He fell to his knees, for just a moment, then fell to the floor with all life removed from his system.

**X X X**

As the now fully alive geth walked amongst the admirals, a red geth prime took notice of Commander Shepard, Tali, Admiral Raan, and Garrus down by the cliffside.

"Admiral Raan. I heard your ship had to make a crash landing. Glad you got out in one piece," Shepard said as he greeted her.

"I was listening over the radio. If Han'Gerrel hadn't stopped-"

"He did," he replied.

"We've taken heavy losses," the admiral added. "I don't know if we can… where are we supposed to go?"

Her eyes shifted as Tali drew a pistol to behind her. Raan turned, now facing an approaching geth prime, the same one who took notice earlier.

"You are welcome to return to Rannoch, Admiral Raan. With us," the geth said in a deep and familiar voice.

"Legion?" Shepard asked.

"No. I'm sorry, Commander. Legion sacrificed itself to give us all intelligence. It will be honored."

"Good," he nodded.

"And we will honor Legion's promise. The geth fleet will help you take Earth, and our engineers will help in building the Crucible."

Raan turned to him. "As will ours, of course."

"Admiral," the prime said. "Have you considered possible settlement sites?"

This was so much for her to accept. So suddenly, it overwhelmed her. "We… the southern continent had excellent farmland, as I recall."

"Are you going to be okay?" John asked, taking notice of how difficult this was for her.

"I believe so, Commander. Thank you."

As the admiral conversed with the prime, Tali stood off by the cliffside by herself, gazing out on the horizon. Garrus walked over to John, nodding to him.

"You know," Shepard said. "When we get old and can't for crap anymore, I'm gonna miss days like this."

"You're telling me," the turian replied. "I'm going to tell my children, then my grandchildren about the time I fought a guy who can fly, stop bullets with his mind, and throw people with a flick of a hand, and shot his arm off."

"Be honest, though," Shepard said as they walked up to Tali. "Were you really aiming for his arm?"

"Well, I-"

"He totally missed," Tali teased. "Come on, it's Garrus we're talking about; when does he shoot for anything that's _not_ the head?"

He shrugged, a small chuckle of embarrassment. "I got a little scared. It's not every day your… best friend is closer to the brink of death than normal. I just aimed and shot; I didn't have the luxury of tracking the wind direction to take his head off. Besides, if he flipped bullets back at Kaidan and made him shoot himself, what do you think he would've done with the targeting laser?"

"Garrus, I don't think that's how it works," Shepard quirked an eyebrow.

"Shepard… he can fly. Nothing about him makes sense."

"I'll give you that one," he smiled, the three of them watching out into the sunset's color jumping over the cliffs off in the distance. "Shopping for another house?" he asked Tali.

"Beachfront property," she glanced to him.

"Claim it fast; it's a buyer's market."

Tali just sighed and sat down, for what felt like the first time in years. Shepard and Garrus joined her, all three enjoying the simple action of just getting off of their feet.

"You know," Garrus began. "This isn't a bad spot. It's warm, plenty of room, good view… and no Reapers."

"I like that last one a lot," Shepard replied.

"Hah. Same," Tali smiled behind her mask.

"You okay?" Shepard started. "I know working with the geth will be difficult."

"I'm not staying. I'm coming with you."

"I wasn't going to ask," he replied.

"I think you've earned a few favors with the fleet."

Shepard shrugged his shoulders. "I'm asking them to launch an assault on the Reapers. Figure that makes us even."

"If the Reapers were going to stay on Earth, sure. But sooner or later, they'll come to Rannoch."

"We did just kill one of them," Shepard said, then remembering Alex tearing out a vital piece of the Reaper's structure that pulled the plug on its life. "… ish."

"So I'm coming with you to stop them," she replied. "… If you think I can help."

"You sure about this?" Garrus asked. "You'll have to chase Reapers, get used to the Normandy again, _probably_ fight Cerberus some more. Then there's Alex, plus… all of us."

Tali chuckled, shaking her head. "That's my favorite thing," she glanced to Shepard, then to the horizon. "I look at all this… this picture of hope and peace. And all I see is everyone I've lost."

She sighed. "My team on Haestrom. My father. Legion. I'm mourning a geth, how crazy is that?"

"It's not crazy, at all," Shepard replied.

Tali stood up, Garrus and Shepard joined her.

"It is beautiful, though, isn't it?" she wondered out loud.

"Yeah, it is," the commander replied.

"Telling you," Garrus added in. "This place is gonna go fast."

She smiled, though again, they couldn't see.

"It'll be years before we can live without our suits completely. But right now…"

_**Hisssss**_

Tali's mask slowly detached itself from her suit as she finally gazed at her home world, and breathed in the air, naturally, fully, without her suit.

"Right now, I have this."

**X X X**

"That's another one up for me, Vega," Garrus said as they were back at it, comparing accomplishments. "Let the record show that Garrus Vakarian, also known as Archangel was the one who permanently disfigured the infamous Alex Viers."

"So you didn't kill him? Doesn't count," Vega smirked.

"Do they do this a lot?" Miranda asked as she sat with Shepard and Liara in the mess hall.

"Goddess, it never ends," Liara sighed. "Can you imagine if we sat those two down at a table for a meal together? I don't think we'd ever hear the end of it."

"Speaking of which, isn't Thanksgiving in the next few days?" Miranda asked, just now thinking about it.

"Hey, it is," Shepard said.

"Thanksgiving? I'm sorry, I don't follow."

"It's a holiday where everyone's families usually get together for a big meal. We usually eat too much, catch up, tell stories-"

"I see," Liara thought. "James and Garrus should not sit at the same table then," she ended with a smile.

"No, certainly not," Miranda agreed. "Shepard, this ship isn't exactly ideal to have a holiday."

"Whoa, who said we were having Thanksgiving on the Normandy?"

"Oh," she teased. "I take it you don't want to have it, then?"

"I never said that," Shepard rolled his eyes.

"Commander?" Samantha called over the comm. "Admiral Anderson is available on vid comm now."

"Thank you, Traynor," he replied. "Excuse me, ladies."

"Saved by the bell," Miranda winked at him as he left.

A few moments went by, Garrus and James continued to bicker, and then Miranda turned to the Shadow Broker. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course. Is everything okay?"

"Have you… heard anything, about my sister? I don't usually think back on my decisions. It's just that, when we fought Alex, him and Kai Leng were both rather convincing for once that they knew where she was."

"Miranda, you know that isn't true," she said. "Alex is literally one of the most mentally unstable individuals I've ever met, and Kai Leng is with Cerberus; you know better than anyone how Cerberus operates."

"I do. That's why I almost believed Alex and nearly let him go," she sighed. "It sucks. All this talk about Thanksgiving made me realize how much I miss her. I hate being here sometimes… not because of anyone here. I just feel like I need to be out there, looking for her."

"I can pull some strings, if you'd like," she offered. "You aren't doing a very good job of putting up a front. Everyone can tell something is wrong, especially Shepard. He worries about you."

"I'm sure… does he tell you?"

"No. He doesn't tell anyone, and he doesn't have to. John and I are good friends. I can see it in his expression."

"I'm hard on him, I admit," she replied, running her hand through her hair. "I know I can be a bitch. I'm not one to him, though. I guess I just get so wrapped up in my sister that it's all we talk about. We'll mess around in bed, then afterwards he has to listen to me rant about her. I'm awful to him, I know. We never once talked about who and what he's lost."

"It's not my place to tell you. He should," she nodded. "Eventually, you'll have to listen to him once you find your sister."

"I suppose I should start sooner," she sighed. "I haven't been as good to him as I should be."

"Everyone is on edge, Miranda."

"Exactly. I've made it all about me," she frowned. "I suppose I should make it up to him on Thanksgiving, if we decide to do anything, anyway. He doesn't seem too crazy about the idea."

**X X X**

"Son of a bitch," Anderson said after Shepard told him what happened. "I'm glad you got the quarians and the geth to stop fighting. But you're telling me Alex jumped onto a Reaper and then ripped its circuitry out?"

Shepard shrugged. "He completely blindsided us, sir, we had no idea he was coming until after we had subdued the Reaper. Garrus injured him, though, pretty badly. He took off before we could finish him off."

"How bad is it?" he asked.

"He shot his arm off with a sniper rifle."

"Heh. Good. Little bastard had it coming," he smiled. "We're having a Thanksgiving dinner in the barracks this week. Wish you didn't take off so soon after what happened at the FDA, they could sure use someone like you down there."

"They've got you," he replied. "I think you can fill my shoes just fine."

"Speaking of which, have you checked your terminal lately?"

"No, sir. Lately all I've done is come back from missions, check in, and then sleep if I'm lucky."

"Right, I understand, Shepard. Check them if you get the chance today. I sent you something a few days ago."

"Yes, sir."

"Anything else to report?"

"Nothing, sir."

"Anderson out."

**X X X**

Shepard stepped through the door into his cabin, the shower still running. Miranda was probably still in there doing who knows what. He was always in and out in five, sometimes less. She would literally take close to thirty minutes, and doing her hair… thank god they didn't do a lot of evenings out.

Not that it wouldn't be worth it.

Then it clicked to him he needed to check his terminal. What was it that Anderson wanted to show him that he couldn't tell him over the comm?

The shower turned off, and a second later, Miranda stepped out with a towel around her body and her hair wrapped up in another one. "Hey, you."

"Hey," he said, reading the message.

"What are you reading?" she asked, walking up to him and sitting on his lap, still wet.

If she were planning on seducing him, it wouldn't take much at this point.

"Anderson sent me something a few days ago. I was just getting around to it," he said, eyes glued to the screen.

"Hm, let's see," she said, reading along with him.

_Shepard,_

_I'm obviously not going to be home for the holidays. Missing Thanksgiving, probably Christmas, too. I want you to watch my place for a while. I won't be using it, I want you and the rest of the crew to have a place to relax. Try not to make too much of a mess, I'd like it to be recognizable when I come back._

_Anderson_

"He's giving me his apartment for the holidays?"

"Can't complain," Miranda said, leaning her towel covered head onto his. "Maybe we can actually all spend some quality time together."

"Thanksgiving's in two days," he shrugged. "Is that even enough time to get what we need together?"

"Ah, ah!" she pressed her finger to his lips as she scooted in closer to him. "You leave that to me and the other ladies."

"Are you actually offering to cook?"

"What?" she said, kissing him lightly. "Don't like my cooking?"

Shepard smiled. "I've just never had the pleasure of enjoying your cooking before," his hand moved underneath the towel, slowly trailing up her leg. "I do enjoy a lot of things about you, though. I guess the cooking can't be too bad."

"Well, aren't you a charmer," she kissed him deeper, pulling the bottom of his lip gently. "Anything else you haven't had the pleasure of enjoying from me?"

He scooped her up, she gasped as she held onto him. He put her on the desk as she unwrapped the towel from her head, him removing the towel on her body.

God, she looked incredible, he thought.

Her hair was still wet, clinging to her naked body as she pulled him into a deep kiss, her hands working the buckle to his pants.

"Commander Shepard?" Samantha came through on his personal comm.

"Hang on," he told her as he reached over to the comm.

"I'm not waiting for anything," she hungrily said as she pulled his pants down, going down and putting himself in her mouth as she began to bob her head up and down.

"Everything oka-" he gulped, holding himself together from letting a moan escape him as Miranda sucked him. "Everything okay, Traynor?"

"Diana Allers is still wondering if you are available for your interview dealing with the quarians and the get-"

"Sorry, Samantha," he looked down at Miranda, gazing up at him as she stroked his member while she sucked him. She'd take it out of her mouth for a moment, only to rub it down with her tongue, trailing over her breasts before starting to suck on him again. "Tell Ms. Allers it'll have to be tomorrow."

"Yes, sir," she replied.

"Finally," she said, stroking him quickly. "Was wondering if I was going to have you to myself or not."

"I'm all yours, miss Lawson," he smiled.

"Damn right," she smiled up at him, rubbing his cock in between her breasts. "You like that?"

He let out a deep sigh. This is _exactly_ what he needed.

She whipped her hair back and started to suck him again, faster this time. She glanced up at him with her wet hair covering her face. It drove him wild when she looked at him during anything like this.

He finally let out a groan, then she stood, keeping her hand on him.

"Ah, ah, ah," she pressed a finger to his lips, kissing him. "I don't want you to come just yet."

"I was just getting started," he said, pulling her in as he picked her up.

"Good," she said, licking his lips, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it over onto the floor. "Now, why don't you put me over on that desk, and make me a woman."

**X X X**

The Illusive Man sat in his chair, reviewing schematics as Kai Leng stepped into the room.

"I understand your last mission was not a success."

"I'm sorry."

"No one could have predicted Alex would become this much of a problem. His ability to fly… it is unsettling. More reason why we need to capture him, in order to contain him."

"I may have something better," he said, pulling the syringe out from behind him. "I took a sample of his spinal fluid when I captured him."

"Good," his boss said, puffing from his cigarette. "We'll begin dissecting the contents of this immediately."

"He has similar goals as us," Leng added on. "Control. Only he wants to enslave and rule them for his own gain."

"I'm aware," the Illusive Man noted. "Alex's hunger for power has been clear from the beginning. His egotistical natural makes his plans easy to track. It is exactly why I've allowed him to run free."

"How do you suggest we capture him?"

The Illusive Man smiled, examining the reports of Alex's recent updates. "When the time comes, I will tend to Alex myself. You need not concern yourself; it is clear Lieutenant Viers is too much for you to handle."

Leng gritted his teeth. "Understood."

**X X X**

He had more energy after he fought the Reaper on Rannoch than after what just happened. He laid on top of Miranda, hot and exhausted as she buried her face into his neck.

"You're amazing," she said. "I still think the engine room was our best spot, though."

Shepard pulled himself out of her, wiping the mix of his and her fluids off of him with the blanket he reminded himself he would need to wash tomorrow morning, and rolled onto his side.

Miranda moved over to him, wrapping her arms around him. "So. Thanksgiving going to happen after all?"

He smiled. "I'd be crazy to say no."

She had no idea she could be this happy with anyone, or this happy at all. Every time she wanted to leave, he always found reasons for her to stay. Even better, he never had to ask. She just found more things she loved about him.

Love… interesting.

"Hey," she said.

All she heard was breathing.

"Shepard," she said, a little louder. "John. Are you awake?"

She rolled him onto his back. He was completely passed out.

"Huh. Guess I did a better job than I thought," she mentally high-fived herself as she wrapped her arms around his chest and closed her eyes. She'd worry about her hair in the morning; at least tonight, no one would have to see it except him.

And he could mess her hair up anytime he wanted to.

**End Chapter 9**

**Well, I wasn't expecting to enforce my M rating, but I figured I might as well throw that in there xD **

**So yeah, Thanksgiving is already over, but not in the ME universe! So we're gonna have us a damn good Thanksgiving filler chapter! Yay, filler!**

**I'm also sure some of you guys liked Garrus knocking Alex on his ass. Thanks again so much for the reviews! Please keep them coming, don't be afraid to ask any questions. Anyway, onto the next chapter! **


	10. The To-Do List

**Who doesn't love a good filler episode? Well, chapters, I guess. Anyway, the holidays have come to the galaxy, even in times of war! So sit back and enjoy this fun little section; complete with hunting for food, surprise guests, and the notorious Black Friday shopping on the Citadel.. eventually. Let's do it.**

**FYI, since I'm going off the assumption that you have played the Citadel DLC (or at least watched it), I won't be getting crazy with describing the apartment. You know what it looks like already!**

**Chapter 10 – The To-Do List**

Some much needed shore leave, and what a perfect time. Shepard stepped off the Normandy with his crew scattered in front of him and behind him, heading in different directions for what they were planning next.

"Commander," Kaidan said to him as he walked next to him.

"You look good for someone who got shot with his own bullets and had his head bashed in," he smirked.

"Yeah, well, karma's a funny thing; Eva Core died, and Alex got his arm shot off… the same arm, might I add, that threw those bullets back at me. I'd say I'm pretty good at getting back at people in my own little way. Can I talk to you?"

"Sure, what's on your mind, Major?"

"Not here. In private," he glanced at Miranda who was giving him a sheepish look. "No offense or anything."

"Oh, no, I get it," she playfully raised her hands up. "I'll have you know I've been kicked out of better places."

She pecked Shepard's cheek and continued on ahead while the commander and major slowed down until everyone had left.

"Sorry. It's just, I don't know, something I've been meaning to talk to someone about. You're probably the only one who can relate to this, anyway."

His eyebrows rose up. "Kaidan, you're scaring me."

"Don't worry, it's nothing like that," he sighed, rubbing the back of his head as he paused in speech for a moment.

"I kind of… slept with Jessie the other day."

Jaw literally dropped. Kaidan was NOT that impulsive, for that matter, he's not impulsive at all.

"You slept with Jessie? Jessie, Zaeed's daughter, Jessie? What happened?"

He shrugged. "The day I was cleared by Dr. Chakwas, I was packing up the stuff in my room that you and some of the other crew members left me. You know, get well soon cards and all that," he cleared his throat. "Jessie came by to see if I needed anything. I figured she was just trying to pay me back for helping her out."

"What happened then?" Shepard was still having a hard time believing Kaidan of all people would just have a fling like that, out of nowhere.

The thought of Zaeed finding out was a terrifying image. He didn't even want to think about what he would do if he found out.

"We were almost packed up, I was just making the bed. She had to use the bathroom, so I got everything squared away. When she came out… she was naked."

"That's as clear a message as any."

"Yeah, you're telling me. She walked up to me and put her hands on me, and well, the rest is history. I had to make the bed again before we left."

The commander shook his head with a small smile on his face. "I guess I could have seen it coming."

"What, no way. How?"

"Kaidan, you saved her dad's life when he was supposed to die. Then, you saved her life from Alex before he snapped her neck."

"Yeah, I shot at Alex with six bullets that he stopped with his hand, then turned them around and threw them right back at me," he shook his head. "That could've been it for me, and Alex still could've just killed her right after."

"Exactly," he nodded. "You could have died, but she would have. You risked your life for her, and you saved her father. I guess she's just got a thing for you now."

"That's the thing, though," the major shrugged. "I'm not sure I'm that into her."

"Oh, my god, Kaidan."

"What? Hey, if you had just met Miranda, and she came onto you the way Jessie came onto me, would that be enough to figure out if you had feelings for her or not?"

"If I had just met Miranda," Shepard crossed his arms. "Then no, probably not. But you saved probably the only family she has left, then you saved her life without knowing if you would have survived or not."

"I don't know. I'm usually not this complicated about stuff. I guess the idea of being with someone just wasn't on my front page of things I wanted."

Shepard leaned on the wall next to Kaidan as they watched the traffic of ships coming and going.

"I thought the same thing, too. Then I met Ashley."

"Yeah. I remember," he frowned, glancing to the ground. "Yet you chose me."

There was silence amongst them. The port had completely cleared; even the maintenance crew from the Normandy had left. They were completely alone.

"Does she know?" Kaidan asked.

Shepard shook his head. "No."

"Right. Well, I'll make sure it stays that way. I'm the only one who knew, anyway."

"Garrus knew," he shrugged. "Somehow figured it out after Ash died. I guess I kept him up at night."

"Listen, John-"

"I know," the commander replied weakly, something only a few people saw in the commander; a change in his tone. "You remember what she said back on Virmire?"

"Yeah," he said, thinking back over the comm as he and Kirrahe fought off hoards of geth alone at the time. "_I have the bomb, so who cares if I get shot?_"

He scoffed. "Typical Ash."

Kaidan smirked. "Yeah. Typical Ash."

Shepard put his arm around the shoulder of easily his best human friend. "Women."

Kaidan shook his head with a half smile on his face as he agreed. "Women."

**X X X**

Shepard was in complete awe at what he was looking at. THIS was Admiral Anderson's apartment?

It was huge, lavish, and very, very expensive looking.

"This is… a big place," he said out loud. "I guess it makes sense to have the holiday stuff here."

Miranda stepped next to him, one hand on her hip as she examined the apartment. "Talk about an upgrade. I could get used to this," she glanced to him.

"Maybe when this is over," he smirked.

"I'll hold you to that," she kissed his cheek. "Is everything okay with Kaidan?"

"Yeah. He's just… having issues, let's just say. I shouldn't tell you wit-"

"Oh. I see," she said, walking away from him and into the kitchen. "I won't ask you again, then."

"Miranda," he rolled his eyes.

"No, no," she playfully teased him. "It's okay."

Shepard simply walked up to her, picking her up and placing her on the island in the kitchen.

"Oh, my," she gasped. "I didn't realize you were so eager to break in the new place already."

He kissed her, then broke away as he opened the refrigerator. "Go figure, it's empty."

"Can't say I'm surprised. Think about the last time the admiral was here," she replied as she hopped off the counter. "I'll whip up some kind of list to shop for Thanksgiving… only I'm not exactly sure what everyone else will eat."

"Yeah," he crossed his arms as he turned to her. "I'm not exactly an expert on what turians, quarians, asari, or protheans for that matter eat."

Miranda just shrugged. "I'll figure something out."

The console for the door rang, and Shepard approached it to see who was trying to get in. He pressed the button.

"Liara?"

"Hello, Shepard," she said through the video. "I'm sorry I didn't call you that I was coming, Miranda suggested that her and I along with some others went shopping for Thanksgiving dinner."

Shepard looked at Miranda, who just batted her eyes at him.

"Come on in," he said, unlocking the door.

Liara was inside a moment later as Glyph followed in with her.

"Glyph?"

"Hello, Commander, Ms. Lawson," he greeted. "I have prepared a list of appropriate foods and dishes suitable to all possible guests or all different races. I can narrow the list down to certain allergens, if need be."

"I guess that just depends on who we invite," the commander said. "I wasn't sure who we should invite."

"Obviously everyone on the Normandy if they don't already have plans," Miranda said. "I can try and get a hold of Jacob, if you want."

"Sure. Hey, Glyph, what kind of recommendations can we get for krogan dishes?"

"Were you planning on inviting Wrex and Grunt?" Liara asked. "Are you sure you can afford to replace all the broken furniture?"

Shepard just shrugged his shoulders. "Doesn't hurt to have too much and not need it. The fridge is empty as is."

**X X X**

Garrus was a little quicker than the others when he left. He got a strange message on his terminal just a few hours before they docked.

He walked into the refugee camp, even more crowded thanks to Cerberus ransacking the place. He walked over to one of the C-Sec officers standing at attention.

"Sergeant Vakarian?" asked the turian private.

"Hey, Dossell," he said. "I'm looking for my dad, he might be with my sister. Have you seen them anywhere?"

"Hm… yeah, I remember," he pointed towards the memorial center to the left of the camp. "They should be over there."

"Thanks."

He turned, and immediately, his father was seen examining the list of missing individuals on the wall.

"Garrus?" a female turian voice rang.

He turned. His sister was sitting with an ice pack on her ankle. Fortunately, that's all that it was. "Solana."

"Garrus," his father turned, a rugged former high-ranking C-Sec turian. "Good to see you, son."

"You, too," he looked to his sister. "How's your leg?"

"It's better. Just kind of swollen from the surgery. I didn't have a lot of time to rest cause of, well, you know."

Garrus shrugged. "Yeah," he looked to his father. "How bad is it?"

"I've never seen anything like it," his father replied. "The krogan showed up, but they aren't stopping them. They're just slowing them down."

"Damn it," he grunted. "What about you guys? How bad was it getting out?"

"Well, it wasn't easy. Even with my clearance, I couldn't get through too much. It didn't help that your sister broke her leg when a piece of debris fell on her; that slowed us down a lot."

"Thanks, dad," she rolled her eyes.

"Garrus," his father said. "A word, please."

They walked off from his sister. "I wanted to tell you how we got off away from your sister. She doesn't need the stress of your reaction when I tell you."

"Stress? Dad, you two got out alive. How can I be stressed about anything involving your escape?"

His father rubbed his forehead. "It's better if I show you," he looked behind Garrus, waving over.

Garrus turned, his stomach flipped and churned at what he was, who he was looking at.

"Sidonis."

Lantar nodded. "Hello, Garrus."

"Dad, what's going on?" Garrus said, harshness building in his tone.

"I helped th-"

"You," Garrus pointed to his former teammate. "You don't talk to me. Ever."

"Garrus," his father said. "This is exactly what I knew would happen. I know you have a bad history with Sidonis, but-"

"You don't know this man, dad. He got my whole squad killed, he-"

"He told me," his father cut in. "After he saved your sister and I from a banshee."

"What?"

"It's true," Sidonis cut in. "Listen, Garrus, you heard me when I talked to Shepard back then. I haven't slept in years, and I probably never will again. I was back on Palaven; I went to turn myself in to the government for what happened on Omega since the Citadel couldn't convict me," he sighed, sitting down. "I was remanded pending my trial when the Reapers attack. I teamed up with a couple of inmates to escape, but I eventually lost them as we got out. I was on my own for a couple of days, trying to survive."

"A reaper attack caved in the roof of the tram station your sister and I were leaving," Garrus' father added on. "One of the support beams hit your sister and trapped her leg. Everyone was running, and husks were killing everything that moved. I fought them until I ran out of ammo. I killed the husks, but then a banshee showed up. You may hate Sidonis for what he did, but I was out of ammo fighting a Reaper warped asari. He saved your sister and I and got us off of Palaven."

Garrus wasn't even sure what to say. Was his father telling him to thank Sidonis? Sure, he saved his dad and his sister from the Reapers on Palaven. That doesn't mean he didn't want to put a bullet in his head right now. His team, they worked so hard, accomplished so much, done so much good… Omega was finally a place where you could walk outside and not expect to get mugged, or worse.

Then he betrayed it all, to save his own skin.

But then he not only broke out of prison, but instead of just leaving, he saved his family. Do people really change? Sidonis wasn't always like this. But why did that matter? He couldn't save his team, all because of what he did to them.

But he turned himself in. He knew what he did was wrong. Then, he saved his family. How long could he hold onto this grudge against him? It was clear he was trying to make things right.

Garrus said nothing, he just stormed off.

"Garrus!" his father called to him.

**X X X**

"This is such a nightmare," Miranda said as she ruffled her hair, glancing through the shopping list. "Finding this much food so close to the holiday is going to be impossible."

"If I recall," Samantha said as they walked through the markets district. "You're the one who wanted to put this all together. The commander probably would've forgotten all about Thanksgiving if you hadn't said anything."

"Don't remind me," she sighed. "Okay, first thing, the essentials: Mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, rolls, macaroni?"

"I have almost no idea what any of these foods are, I'm sorry," Liara said. "Most of these foods are still very new to me, luckily I can eat them thanks to our DNA."

"Don't humans who celebrate Thanksgiving have some type of main meat in their course?" Tali wondered. "Like a, what is it, a turkey?"

"How did I forget that?" Miranda slapped her forehead. "I'm not very good at this."

As they moved on, Miranda glanced back at Jessie, who was stuck glancing at something through a window at a story.

"Jessie," she called.

"What? Oh, sorry," she replied, walking a little faster to catch up before returning to her regular speed. "I was just looking at something."

"At a store specifically for biotics. Are you a biotic?" she was genuinely curious.

"What? No, no, no, no, no!" she waved her hands. "They're just, I don't know, they're nice to look at."

"Biotics are nice to look at?" Tali asked.

"No!" she grunted. "The supplement store. Some people who use older models can suffer from migraines or worse. Some of this stuff really takes it away and helps balance biotic power."

"I see," Samantha's eyebrows raised. "So you're looking at it because you know someone who's a biotic that uses the older L2 implants?"

"I, um-"

While the girls bickered, Miranda noticed a familiar drell Spectre standing in the corner of the hallway they were heading towards. "Give me a minute, you guys."

She walked towards him, relatively excited to see him. "Hello, Thane."

"Good to see you, Miranda."

"You look much better," she pointed out. "Almost as if you were never sick at all."

"Yes, the treatment was a success; I no longer carry Kepral's Syndrome anymore and am in perfect health again. The Council has kept me busy lately."

"Of course," she nodded, looking around to make sure the other crewmembers couldn't hear her. "Have you made any progress lately with my sister?"

"Some. I can confirm that she is alive, and she is not in the custody of your father at the moment. She is currently moving across planets every other day, so she is difficult to track precisely," he said. "It will take time, but I am confident I can locate her thanks to the Spectre resources I have access to now."

"I appreciate this more than you realize," she warmly smiled. "Please let me know if there's anything else I can do to help."

"It is no trouble at all. I should let you resume your errands. I have errands of my own to run," he smirked. "Spectre business."

A giggle escaped her. "Of course. You Spectres do keep busy."

"In a sense," he smiled. "I will contact you if I hear anything further. Please excuse me."

"Have a good day," she said as they parted ways.

"Thane looks well," Liara said as Miranda joined the group again. "I guess he really is cured."

"Why don't we invite him to dinner? Has Shepard done so already?" Tali asked.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I'll ask him when we get back. Okay, let's see, next we have…"

**X X X**

Shepard walked into Purgatory, the bass felt in his chest as he glanced over to the bar on the lower level to find Garrus sitting at the bar. He had gotten a message asking to speak with him earlier.

"Garrus?" he asked as he sat next to him.

"Hey, Shepard," he said, downing the last of his drink.

"How many have you had?"

"Not enough," he shook his head, signaling for the bartender to serve him another drink. "It's like this day can't get any stranger."

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "My dad and my sister, they're alive. They're fine, actually. I just saw them about an hour ago."

"That's great," he said, confused as to why it would lead to him coming to drink.

"Yeah, that's what I thought at first," he paused, taking a sip of his drink. "I ran into Sidonis. He's not only alive, but he's the one that saved them and got them off of Palaven."

"Sidonis? I thought he turned himself in."

"Yeah, he did. Only the Citadel couldn't prosecute him due to Omega practically being anarchy in a sense of due process; it wasn't "illegal" on the grounds where the crime was committed, so they couldn't hold him. He went back to Palaven and turned himself in, got locked up and was waiting for his trial in a cell when the Reapers attacked."

"And I'm guessing he broke out and saved your family," he finished, ordering a drink himself.

"Bingo," Garrus sighed. "He told my dad what he did. He got ahead of it, Shepard. That… I don't know why that makes me so angry. He had no right."

He hand balled into a fist, slamming it into the bar. "No right!"

"Garrus," Shepard put his hand on his friend. "You're right. Sidonis shouldn't have said anything. But you've gotta calm down."

"What?"

"You're shaking, Garrus."

He glanced down at his hands. They were literally trembling from anger.

"I don't see how we were able to work with someone like Kai Leng, and here I storm off from my family the second I see Sidonis," he sighed. "What's the matter with me, Shepard?"

"There's nothing wrong with you, Garrus. But that was different; we were desperate after we saw what Alex could do."

"Didn't make much of a difference, he still took all of us without breaking a sweat."

Shepard shook his head. "Don't remind me. But to be fair, he ended up hurting himself without us even doing anything to him. And if I recall, someone took his arm off on Rannoch."

Garrus laughed. "Hah. Yeah, I suppose that's true."

"It's gonna be okay, Garrus. But you do need to talk to him, after you cool off."

"Sidonis? … Yeah, you're right. But not right now; I'm a little too hammered and emotional at the moment. I'll definitely… definitely need a clear head. And a gun."

"Garrus."

"Kidding! That's the alcohol talking."

**End Chapter 10**

**So here you go, lots of little fun stuff happening, just in time for Thanksgiving! Man, I'm behind. I gotta hurry up and catch up before Christmas. Let me know what you think in a review! New chapter coming soon.**

**PS - I know I said at the beginning that Shepard didn't romance anyone, but there will be a big explanation as to why she was mentioned as a "romance" (technically, but since she didn't survive it was never considered as such... technically; you'll see =b)**


	11. Back Before Dinner (Alex vs Thane)

**Chapter 11 – Back Before Dinner (Alex vs. Thane)**

_**Artemis Tau Cluster**_

_**Macedon System**_

_**Sharjila**_

Oriana almost patched into her comm to try and get a hold of the customs agent who was going to smuggle her off world, but she decided against it. The very first thing told to her by her parents, when she left, was to never get a hold of anyone. Let them find you.

She was just worried about _who_ would find her if she wasn't careful.

Miranda hadn't spoken to her in quite some time. Though she assured her she would never stop keeping an eye out on her, she still felt like she was alone through this whole ordeal. At the moment, the Reapers were the least of her problems.

Then, the door opened as an Alliance soldier stood there with a clipboard in his hand. His only hand. His left arm was completely gone.

"Oriana Lawson?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Lieutenant Alex Viers, Alliance Customs," he said with a warm smile, his dress blues came into light as he stepped into the room with her. "Are you ready to go? We don't have much time."

"Wait, where's Sergeant Jacobs? He's the one who's always helped me, where is he?"

"Tall guy, dark, mustache?" he asked. "He was reassigned, I just came from the frontlines last week, actually; hence the arm… or lack thereof."

"I see," she said. "Well… okay. My things are already on the cargo ship, I was just waiting for Dan to come get me."

"Don't worry, he sends his regards," Alex smiled. "We're ready whenever you are."

She stepped out with him. He had a calm, secure feeling about him, she thought as they walked down to the hangar.

Far back, in Sergeant Jacobs' office, his mangled body and blood coated the room, along with all of the access codes to Alliance transport systems and itineraries gone.

**X X X**

Thane enjoyed work again. Only this time he was on a payroll, a high one for that matter, and it only dealt with handling the most vile situations because of his experience. No murder for hire anymore, he only took care of the wicked.

"This is Thane," he said. "I just landed on Sharjila. I can confirm Alex's location, along with that of Oriana Lawson."

"Good," Tevos replied. "Remember: Rescuing Oriana is a secondary objective. Neutralize Alex by any means necessary."

"Understood, Thane out."

He had heard stories about him. Worse, Shepard mentioned to him how Alex single handedly defeated the entire team, along with Kai Leng in the process with ease, and then flew away. Flew.

Perhaps it was better that he did recover and not die in a hospital bed. Maybe this was his true way for the gods to grant him the chance for redemption. Maybe this was the answer to him.

He hadn't had a fight at full strength in years. He was almost excited.

He stepped into the customs building, confirming no one was around by simply smelling death at every corner. Bodies, only slightly cooled, told him Alex had just recently killed them.

And it _was_ him, no doubt about it. Biotic injury marks, broken necks, and debris clearly projected at a fast speed judging by the exit wounds told him he had been using his abilities. He could be weakened, which he would have to capitalize on as soon as possible.

He was quiet, and fast, just as he ever was. Room to room, hallway to hallway, everything was clear and empty. No evidence, only struggle and death. With blood, lots and lots of blood.

He reached the office of Sergeant Dan Jacobs, and stepped inside. As he expected, the customs agent was dead, and by the looks of it, he didn't die quickly.

"Missing notes, itineraries, folders of Alliance personnel and ships along with their list of cargo," he said to himself, tapping his comm. "Tevos, this is Thane."

The asari councilor attempted to respond, but all the drell could pick up was static and feedback.

"He must have a jamming station running," he said to himself, as he read through whatever travel logs weren't taken.

"Bingo."

Thane turned, delivering a fast and hard kick to the source of the voice, but was frozen in place before it could connect.

He struggled, but couldn't break free. The person held him with his right hand, wearing an Alliance uniform; the left arm was gone, and the sleeve was cut and hemmed down. The lights flickered off and on, but he could see who was holding him.

"Alex," the Spectre said.

"So many people know me, but I'm afraid I don't quite know you," he said, right hand pulsing more power as it slammed Thane into the wall. "Who are you?"

"Thane Krios. Special Tactics and Reconnaissance."

"A Spectre?" his eyebrow quirked. "A drell Spectre. Really. Now you're just insulting my intelligence."

"Or over confidence, perhaps," he replied.

Alex's hold over him broke as Thane dropped to the ground. Before the push dissipated, Thane caught it with his own attack, sending it back to Alex as it tossed him back into the wall with a hard thud.

Alex barely had time to register what had happened as Thane was on him a second later, rolling to the side and jumping to his feet. His head was spinning, and he only had a little bit of antibiotics left.

Now fighting hand-to-hand was difficult for him, realizing his left arm was no longer there to block the incoming strikes from the drell, who was surprising him by how skilled he was. Decades of mastering military martial arts left him ill-prepared to deal with someone like him, losing an arm didn't help, either.

Thane hadn't felt this free in years. No pain in his breathing, no stiffness in his throat, no ice in his lungs. Just freedom of movement.

Finally, Thane got the upper hand, grabbing Alex's waist as he pivoted, sweeping his feet and tossed him off balance, onto the ground.

Alex grabbed Thane's foot with his legs, twisting them as he fell, knocking the Spectre down as well as they came down together in a synchronized thud.

Thane was up before him, reaching for his pistol as he jumped to him, only for Alex to blast him backwards with a hard push biotic.

The former N7 raised himself up, stiff and sore with a bloody nose. He had barely used any abilities since his last dosage of antibiotics and he was starting to feel himself come apart again.

He knew he couldn't take him one-on-one. Not right now, anyway. Losing his arm put a serious warp on his ability to use his biotics. Damn that turian, he thought.

He reached for the pistol Thane dropped, pointing it and firing, but the Spectre was already up and ducked away into the next room.

"Hide and seek, huh?" he smirked. "Okay, let's pla-"

The gun dropped and he gripped his wound. It wasn't bleeding, but the torn muscles from its amputation made any sort of strenuous activity difficult to maintain.

It didn't help that he had a low stamina to begin with.

"Damn it," he said to himself. "I guess not. I gotta get out of here."

**X X X**

Alex reached the doors to the hangar, punching in keys as it opened for him, shutting behind him as he stepped through, falling to a knee as he gripped his left eye as blood seeped through his hand in an attempt to cover it.

"Damn it. Damn it!" he growled. "My fucking… arm. Why did I have to go and losing my fucking arm!"

_**clank**_

Alex glared at the noise, but it was nothing. Just a can that rolled into a cargo pallet.

Then, he heard a patter to his right. Like feet, he knew that sound. He turned, but again, nothing.

"Where are you?" he shouted. "You think you can toy with me? I'm the one who makes the games, and sets them into motion!"

Then, a pistol cocked back. He turned, just in time to see the bullet fire. He stopped it, and threw it back, but it only hit a crate.

Again, to his left, one bullet stopped, only to be thrown back to nothing.

"He's trying to wear me out," he thought out loud. "Sorry to burst your bubble, fish man, but you're not the first guy to try this on me!"

His left nostril was already bloodied and drying. His right one, however, began to drip.

Thane's plan was clearly working.

"Damn it all. I'm so close, I can't stop!" Alex growled as he bolted down the hangar to the ship he was keeping Oriana in.

Another bullet to his right, stopped and tossed, his balance suffered as his head went dizzy for a moment.

Then, Thane was in front of him.

Alex's hand came up, ready to toss him aside, but Thane's fist crashed into his arm socket, hard. The N7 tossed a hard kick to the Spectre, grabbed by his arm and twisting it, slamming him to the floor on his stomach.

Alex desperately reached for a pipe next to him, swinging it up towards Thane, who effortlessly grabbed it and tossed it aside, planting his foot onto his chest and trapping him on the ground.

"W-Wait!" Alex said. "Do you even know what I'm doing? Why I do the things I do?"

"It is irrelevant," Thane said, withdrawing a pistol from his side and aiming it to his head.

"Irrelevant, ha! That's what they always say. I'm the one who's going to win this war, don't you see? For everyone."

"So you can enslave them after you enslave the Reapers. I've read your file; you claim to be Alexander the Great."

"But I am!" he winced, bones stiffening from the drell's foot. "I am! I've done what the Illusive Man couldn't. I'm the only one who can control the Reapers without becoming indoctrinated. Thi-think about it: Why did I raid Earth's drug administration department? Why did I steal that antibiotic formula from Kai Leng? I ripped a data tray out of a live Reaper on Rannoch and got my arm shot off in the process!"

Thane simply cocked the pistol back, readying a shot in the chamber as it aimed back to Alex in between his eyes.

"If you… kill me, we're dead. All of us are dead!"

"Too many have died because of you, Alex. Killing you will not bring them back, but it will stop more from dying."

"Then you're all dead," he chuckled. "How ironic. The hero is assassinated and the story ends with the destruction of every advanced life form."

"You're not a hero," he replied. "You're evil. In every sense of the word."

Thane pulled the trigger, but the bullet hit something else as his balance completely fell off from an explosion right outside the hangar. He glanced at the blast site through the wall; Reapers were on Sharjila now.

He glanced back at the ground to where his foot was placed; a shiver ran down his spine as he noticed Alex was gone.

"Are you looking for me?"

Thane turned, but couldn't stop it as Alex flew into him, throwing the dress several dozens of feet away from him, crashing into a pallet of crates.

Alex saw the Reapers off in the distance. They were following him, no doubt; this planet was nothing more than a test site at this point. He was disoriented, but he could still fly a ship as he rushed up the loading bay and closed it behind him.

He hated to admit it, but had the Reapers not shown up when they did, that drell would have killed him. What a way to go: Executed in a hangar on a deserted planet.

**X X X**

He rushed to the cockpit, but not before checking on one of the cargo bays Oriana was staying in to make sure she was all right.

The door opened. "Oriana, are you okay?"

"Alex? Oh, my god, what happened to you? You're bleeding everywhere!"

"I'm ok, but we gotta- oh, shit!"

Oriana just watched as Alex jumped back to engage a drell in hand-to-hand combat in front of the doorway. Was he an assassin?

"How many pallets do I have to throw you through so you stay down?" the N7 growled as he blocked one of Thane's strikes, jumping back to take a stance with his only operable arm.

"Rescuing Oriana is only a secondary objective, but it is a favor to a friend."

"A friend?" Alex spat. "Did Miranda put you up to this?"

"Miranda?" Oriana asked, stepping out the second she heard her sister's name.

"Don't listen to him, Ori. He's an assassin, look what he did to me? He's going to kill you!"

"Oriana, listen," Thane cut in. "My name is Thane Krios. I'm a Spectre, and a friend of Commander Shepard's, along with your sister. The Council sent me on a mission to track Alex down; he's a terrorist."

"I'M a terrorist? You worked with Cerberus!" Alex pointed before looking back to Miranda's sister. "Thane's just name dropping your sister so he can get you away from me to your father. He's working with them!"

There was a brief pause while Oriana glanced at the two men fighting over her. Thane just came out of nowhere and said he was here to help her, but Alex had been helping her since the beginning. Then again, she had only met Alex maybe a few hours before Thane showed up…

"Think about it!" Alex said again. "You've been running ever since the Reapers were attacking. Your father's been working with Cerberus, and they've KNOWN where you've been all along! But when he came to work for them, he made it the condition that he would have you. What do you think is going to happen if Thane kills me and takes you back? You know where I'll take you, but you don't know where he will."

"You'll kill her," Thane coldly stated. "Just like you killed everyone in the base. Countless others."

Thane's body became weightless, pulled towards Alex as the N7 gripped his collar with a gaze of bloodlust, fitting, considering the blood from his eye, nose, and ears.

"Heaven cannot brook two suns, nor earth two masters."

In a hard throw, Thane's body slammed into the side of the bay. Alex glanced back to Oriana, the look of 'I'll protect you' extinguished from his face as the smirk on his face with the blood coating sent fear into her like she had never felt.

"I think I left the keys in the ignition."

He stepped forward, but fell back as a giant metal claw crushed through the ship. Alex looked up, it was a Reaper.

"Damn it!" he cursed.

Oriana picked herself up, a few cuts and bruises from the blast and falling debris, gasping at what she looked at in front of her.

She felt a tug on her arm. She almost screamed, but looked up to see Thane.

"Are you injured?"

"No, I don't think so."

"We need to leave."

"But-"

"Miranda is on the Citadel right now. We need to leave right now before the Reapers cut off our escape completely."

"Ok," she nodded, getting up as they made their way out of the now destroyed Alliance cargo ship, leaving Alex to the Reapers.

**X X X**

The island in the kitchen at the apartment was, well, not as large as it once was. So much food, and they were only in boxes and containers. Miranda had never really shopped much before, for groceries, anyway. She wasn't in a hurry to do it again.

She sat at the table and just looked at it. How was she going to cook even a fraction of that? Read the directions? At least some of the others had volunteered to cook; maybe it would make things easier for someone with virtually no cooking experience.

The door to the apartment opened, and Zaeed stepped inside. He glanced around, his first time being in this large of a place that wasn't filled with men trying to kill him.

"Zaeed," she said.

"Miranda," he replied as he walked past the kitchen, towards the staircase. "I'm looking for Shepard."

"We're up here, Zaeed," Shepard said from upstairs.

Miranda just went back to taking stock of everything. The list John had compiled for this dinner was massive. Even with all this food, she wasn't even sure if it would put a dent in-

"You son of a BITCH!"

"Zaeed, wait!"

She walked towards the living room, eyes opened wide as Kaidan came down from the second flood with a hard thud on his back, Zaeed jumping down and pinning him down.

"Son of a bitch!" he yelled, smashing his fist into the major's face. "You put your hands on MY little girl! I'm gonna skin you alive!"

He got two more punches in before Shepard and James got there, actually struggling to keep him off of Kaidan.

"Let GO of me, damn you all!" he shouted. "Did you know? Did you know, Shepard?"

This was scary; Zaeed was actually angrier here than when they fought Vido on Zorya.

"Zaeed, you need to calm down!" Shepard tried to reason, but he literally was like Video said, a mad dog.

"You think just cause you gave me a few packs of blood and caught a few bullets for my daughter you've got first-class tickets to go to bed with her?" he roared, ignoring everyone trying to reason with him. "Bastard! BASTARD!"

"Z-Zaeed… I'm sor-"

Zaeed broke free, elbowing Shepard in the diaphragm and dropping his heel into James' shin as he rushed to Kaidan, grabbing his collar. "It's too late for tha-"

"STOP IT."

Zaeed's expression dropped from an animal in blood lust to almost that of a child who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Wha- Jessie, he-"

Jessie just looked at them. Her father had the look of a feral animal about to rip the throat out of its prey, and Kaidan, a Spectre and veteran soldier, was held by the collar with a bruise and bloodied face along with the debris of the balcony railing.

"What have you done?" she said, voice breaking.

Her father called to her, but she was gone, leaving the bags she brought at the door.

Then Zaeed was gone, out the door to chase his daughter down, wherever she went.

Miranda just took a moment to process all of this; she just witnessed all of this right in front of her. She helped Shepard get Kaidan up and onto the couch next to them. Other than some swelling on his face, he was fine.

"You okay, Kaidan?"

"You kidding me?" he chuckled. "I've had my skull bashed in and had my own bullets shoot through me, this is almost a massage," he sighed. "But I had a feeling this would happen. I just didn't think it would be this soon."

"Damn," James said. "Zaeed is scary when he's mad. But she came on to you, right? He's gotta understand that."

"He didn't, James," Kaidan bluntly said. "But maybe he'll cool off after he talks to Jessie. I don't know."

"So that was the big secret, hm?" Miranda asked John as she sat next to him.

"Looks like it didn't matter," the commander replied. "Zaeed found out, anyway."

"Because I told him."

Shepard looked at Kaidan. "What?"

"I had to, Shepard. It wasn't right doing that and not telling him. Zaeed and I, we've covered each other's backs in firefights. I couldn't keep that from him, it's just not me."

"Noted."

**X X X**

"Jessie!" Zaeed called as he ran through the silversun strip. It was packed tonight, and he couldn't find his daughter anywhere. He _had_ to go and lose his temper and throw Kaidan off the balcony.

Then again, grown up or not, she was his little girl. Protective father mode was on, but right now, he had to put that aside to try and fix what he just caused.

"Hey, you," he called to a couple of humans. "I'm looking for someone. Average height, female, brown hair-"

"H-Hey! You aren't Martha!"

Zaeed just scoffed as he brushed past the drunken crowd, no luck finding anything in sight. He wasn't worried if she would be all right or not, he KNEW she could take care of herself. But he had to fix what just happened. Somehow.

"Looking for Jessie, I'm assuming," said the voice to his right.

Zaeed turned to see Garrus, leaning on the railing with his arms crossed, as if he were waiting for him.

"Vakarian, what are you doing here?"

"Jessie is in the casino. Probably at the bar, if she really is related to you," he smirked. "I'm waiting for someone. She didn't even notice me when she came by, then I heard you with your ruff and tuff voice and figured, hey, I should stick around and see if I can help."

"Yeah, you're my goddamn hero," he replied. "If your ugly mug ever decides to have kids, don't have girls."

"I'll be sure to select the 'Male Only' option with my partner, then. She mad at you for something?"

"Your Spectre friend, Kaidan Alenko had a fling with Jessie. He came and told me thinking it was the right thing to do. Goddamn worse thing you could do. I found him at Shepard's apartment and threw the bastard off the balcony and…" he stopped, realizing this was a story he shouldn't be bragging about. There was no happy ending to this story. "I lost my temper, and she saw me beating his face in. I wasn't just angry, I was gonna kill him; even Shepard and Vega tried to hold me back and I just broke out and got on him again."

"Heh," Garrus chuckled. "This reminds me of a time my sister thought she was pregnant. My dad and I didn't even know she was seeing anyone. I find out the guy is actually a trainee for the academy in C-Sec. They were together for six months, and I didn't even realize that that particular day was their anniversary. She walked in, all dressed up and ready to go out for a night on the town. Instead, she saw me beating his face into the carpet of his apartment floor."

"I'd have done the same thing, only I wouldn't have taken nearly as long. What happened next?"

"Turns out Solana was never pregnant. They weren't even intimate, but she was planning on changing that later on in the night. The pregnancy tests were for a friend of hers, but my sister held onto them for her so her parents wouldn't find out. Huge misunderstanding."

"You're not shitting me," Zaeed rubbed his forehead. "I take it things didn't work out between them."

"At first, no. They split for a while, but finally got back together. He was called back into service when Palaven was attacked. He's MIA… and assumed KIA."

"Poor girl's probably driving herself mad," he crossed his arms, glancing up to the traffic of skycars above them. "I missed twenty-two years of my daughter's life after Vido took me out of the Suns. They had a funeral and everything, cremation, all that to make it look legit. I had to watch her grow up, and watch my wife struggle for half of that time without me."

"You couldn't go back?" Garrus wondered. "No, I get it. The Suns probably had the whole place bugged."

"Exactly. If I went back, they'd make me watch them kill Jessie and Mariah, then they'd definitely finish me off."

"Never knew you as a play it safe type, Zaeed," he chuckled. "Remember when we ran through that oil rig just to catch Vido?"

"Hell of an adrenaline rush," he replied. "Looking back… I know we could have saved those workers. I regret pushing the commander into pursuing Vido, but that man has done more than ruin my life; he ruined my family. When I burned him alive, I checked to make sure everything was back to normal. It was, but with the mission and all, I knew I wouldn't have time to go see them. Besides, even if I did, what would I say? _Sorry for being gone for over twenty years, by the way, I'm your dad_?"

"So now you're making it up by trying to be dad of the year," Garrus concluded. "It's not a bad idea, Zaeed, but you should have punched out her boyfriends when she was a teenager. How old is she now, anyway?"

"Twenty-seven, almost twenty-eight."

Garrus shrugged. "Solana was still a teenager, her boyfriend was only a few years older."

"Alenko is what, thirty-five?"

"Yeah, but they're both adults. Solana was still a kid by our standards," Garrus said. "I know you don't want to hear it, but you gotta let her make that choice on her own. Besides, Kaidan's not so bad. In a galaxy full of terrible people, you've got the one guy who will still hold a door open for someone."

"Yeah," he smirked, shaking his head. "And I just threw him off the second story balcony and beat his face into a pulp."

"You know, she's probably still at the bar. You want answers; I would go talk to her. Kaidan will be fine."

All he did was nod, making his way down the strip to the bar above the casino, disappearing into the crowd.

"You know," Garrus said. "There's a reason why I never had you take point. You can't hide your shadow for crap."

Sidonis came out from behind him, walked towards him and leaned against the railing, eyes out into the Citadel traffic. "Never was my strong suit."

"No, a lot of things aren't."

There was silence amongst them. Garrus could have his pistol out in half a second, pointed, and a kill shot in half that time. It would take less than a second to kill him, and he knew the officers on this level; they would just turn a blind eye to it after he told them whom he killed.

"You got ahead of it," Garrus began. "That… why?"

"I wasn't planning on it," Sidonis replied. "When we got out of Palaven we had some down time. Your dad was asking a lot about what I used to do. I tried to keep it general, but one thing led to another, and him being former C-Sec, he could tell I was hiding something."

"So you're blaming my dad for telling him and my sister that you're the reason our team lies in an aisle of unmarked graves."

He just sighed. "No. If I hadn't done what I did, I would've died, and everyone else might have lived. But would Solana and your father have gotten off Palaven?"

Garrus glanced at him. "You better not be saying what I think you're saying."

"I'm not," he shook his head. "I guess what I'm saying is… things happen for a reason. That reason may not make a lot of sense, but when I broke out of prison and husks were eating people as I ran by them, beginning me for help, I thought the spirits were finally catching up to me. After I killed that banshee, though, I think they were giving me another chance… in some strange way."

"I'm grateful you saved my dad and my sister, but that's a longshot from the rest of the team."

"I know," he replied. "I could have ran. But I stayed and fought. It's not just a few people, Garrus, I was on Palaven; it's literally Hell, and everyone is in trouble."

Garrus just listened; trying to figure out how much of this was an outright lie.

"I don't want to die running away. If I don't make it out of this war, I want to be helping, not running."

He wasn't lying. Garrus would be able to tell. He WANTED him to be lying, but he wasn't.

"Please, let me do this for them."

Silence, once again. After a moment, Garrus stood up and began walking away.

"My dad and my sister are meeting tomorrow at Shepard's apartment for a human holiday called Thanksgiving. I don't know if I can forgive you for what happened, but you did save my family. You can come if you want."

Sidonis just watched him as he walked. "Okay," he said, doubtful his former comrade heard him.

**X X X**

Jessie sat at the bar, sipping a long island iced tea as the pulsing beats of the club in the upstairs of the casino attacked her ear drums like an earache.

She couldn't get over what had just happened. But she had to get out. Knowing Kaidan, from what she did know of him, he probably told her father about what happened.

"I really messed up," she said to the half empty glass of her drink. She liked Kaidan. He did so much for her and her father without even thinking. Maybe it was just 'his job' like he would put it, but she saw something more than that.

Then her father decided to beat the shit out of him.

"Jessie."

It was him, behind her. She didn't say anything, just took another sip of her drink, finishing it completely.

He sat next to her, waving the bartender off as he asked what he wanted.

"About what happened-"

"Kaidan's… ugh," she sighed. "I don't know why he said that. I was going to tell you. It's my fault; I came onto him."

"You're not a little girl anymore," he started. "But you're still my daughter, and I'm damn well going to try and protect you from anything I can. Reapers, wild animals, men who-"

"Dad," she stopped him, glancing into her ice-filled glass. "I'm almost twenty-eight. I know, he's a lot older than I am, but I'm an adult. Besides, I don't think he's really even that into me, anyway."

"He damn well better if he did what he did with you, or I swear I'll-"

"Dad," she glared.

"Right," he quickly replied with a nod. "You definitely got that scary look of yours from me."

"You never saw Mom upset very much, then."

"I never saw her as much as I should have," he said, grabbing her glass as he took a few pieces of ice into his mouth and crunched away.

"What happened? What _really_ happened?" she stared at him, his face was so hard to read.

"This isn't the place to say it. I'll tell you, but not right now. I promise."

She smiled. "Okay."

"I'm sorry about Kaidan. Really. I don't approve, I think he's too soft around the edges, but it's your life… not mine."

She leaned in and kissed his cheek. "That's all I care about."

**X X X**

It was getting late, and everyone had already gone. Shepard would have to wait until the morning to get the repairmen to fix the railing Zaeed broke after he threw Kaidan through it. He sat on the couch, looking left into the night traffic as his thoughts escaped him.

"Ok," Miranda said as she sat next to him. "I've got everything set up. I think. I hope. Some of the others will be here in the morning to help get things together."

"That's good," he said in an uninterested tone.

"John, what's the matter?"

He turned his head to the center and leaned back, arms crossed in deep thought. "Miranda, there aren't any secrets, right?"

"Not from me, no," she said, confused by his question. "Is something wrong?"

"Before this goes any further, I need to tell you something. It's over, in the past, but I-"

_**beep beep**_

"Someone's at the door," he said as he stood up.

"Shepard," she stood up, holding his hand. "I'm sorry, there's a secret you should know, as well."

He nodded. "Let me take care of this, and we'll talk, okay?"

"Okay," she nodded as she leaned in and kissed him. "Better go get whoever is at the door."

He let go and approached the terminal, punching in the button for the camera as a familiar face popped into the screen.

"Thane?"

"Good evening, Shepard," he said. "I apologize if this is a bad time, I've just returned from an assignment the Council assigned me to."

"It's no problem. Come on in," he said, unlocking the door as the drell Spectre stepped inside a moment later.

"You look terrible, Thane," he noted. "What happened?"

"Yes, I was rather literal when I said I had just returned. Hello, Miranda," he nodded to her as she approached them and joined their conversation. "I have good news, but first, there is something you should know."

"What is it?" Shepard asked.

"I was tasked with tracking Alex Viers and eliminating him as ordered by the Council. After confirming his location, I discovered he had found Oriana Lawson, and was planning to move her after he had killed the Alliance staff that was smuggling her off of Sharjila."

"Alex?" his eyes opened slightly. "What was he doing with Oriana?"

"Thane," Miranda asked, somewhat worrisome. "Is she okay?"

He just nodded. "Yes. I came just minutes before they left. I fought Alex. He was unlike anyone I had ever faced, even disabled."

"I'm assuming this is the part where you say you killed him, hence why you have Oriana."

"I was able to stop him from taking Oriana, but I was interrupted before I could kill him. The Reapers had come to Sharjila, and I was able to escape with Oriana. I left Alex at their mercy. I wasn't able to confirm if he was killed or not."

"He's missing an arm, probably used all of his energy killing the staff and fighting you. I'd say that doesn't leave much left to fight a Reaper," John nodded.

Miranda shook her head. "No, you don't know him, Shepard. Unless you saw him die yourself, he-"

She paused, frozen, as she glanced at the door.

A little dirty from the looks of it, but there was no doubt about it. It was Oriana. It was her sister.

"Ori," she gasped.

Oriana smiled. "Hey, sis."

Before she knew it, her big sister was in front of her, holding her in her arms with no intent of letting go. All of her pain, suffering, sleepless nights, her sister was finally safe. With her.

"I was worried."

"I could tell," she smiled, holding her sister. "You're squeezing me, you know."

"Sorry," she said, letting go and looking at her. No cuts or bruises from the look of it. If she found any later, she would have Alex's head, no doubt about that.

"Glad to see you're okay, Oriana. I'm Commander Shepard."

"I know who you are," she nodded. "Randa's told me all about you," she smiled.

Miranda just ignored it, trying not to let that fluster her. "There's plenty of rooms here. Let's get you cleaned up, come on."

As the Lawson sisters left for the upstairs, Thane leaned himself against the door to the apartment, taking a deep sigh of relief.

"It's tough being a Spectre, isn't it?" Shepard smirked as he crossed his arms.

"Even with my illness cured, it took everything I had, plus extra to subdue Alex. If there is a possibility that he survived our encounter-"

"Miranda's just worrying. She's got a lot of really bad history with him back with Cerberus. Trust me, I'd put my money on the Reapers finishing him off. Body or not, that's one less problem we have to worry about."

"Perhaps," he nodded. "Either way, I fulfilled my promise to her and made sure her sister was safe."

"Thank you," John said. "This means more to her than you know. I know she can be kinda hard to read, but she's thrilled on the inside."

"Yes, of course. I'll you'll excuse me, I must prepare my things for tomorrow evening."

"You have plans?"

"Absolutely. Miranda invited Kolyat and myself to Thanksgiving dinner."

He smiled, shaking his head. "Of course she did. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

**X X X**

**And here's big bad 11. Yay, Oriana is back with her sister! But will that last? And do you think Alex survived his fight with Thane? Leave me something, I'm starting on the next chapter soon!**


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